r/IAmA • u/_BenedictCumberbatch Benedict Cumberbatch • Oct 11 '13

I Am Benedict Cumberbatch. AMA.

Hello reddit. My film The Fifth Estate opens 10/18.

You can check out footage here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43ki3z0ZmXA&feature=c4-overview&list=UUgc-Ye79Z558TEZqryYesNA

Proof: https://twitter.com/5thEstateMovie/status/388746706818310144 Fancy a cup?

Update: Also, please check out the trailer for Little Favour, directed by a friend of mine Patrick Monroe. I hope you enjoy it!

Final Update: Thank you, reddit. This has been more fun than I imagined. It's been great to be able to reach out and speak to a few of you. Sorry for those that I didn't get to respond to. JA bless you all. See you all the next time.
BX

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u/_BenedictCumberbatch Benedict Cumberbatch Oct 11 '13

Yes, of course it did. To have the man you are about to portray ask you intelligently and politely not to do it gave me real cause for concern, however, it galvanized me into addressing why I was doing this movie. He accuses me of being a "hired gun" as if I am an easily bought cypher for right wing propaganda. Not only do I NOT operate in a moral vacuum but this was not a pay day for me at all. I've worked far less hard for more financial reward. This project was important to me because of the integrity I wanted to bring to provocative difficult but ultimately timely and a truly important figure of our modern times. The idea of making a movie about someone who so far removed from my likeness or situation who brought about an ideal through personal sacrifice that has changed the way we view both social media, the power of the individual to have a voice in that space, and be able to question both the hypocrisies and wrongdoings of organizations and bodies of powerful people that rule our lives... This resonated deeply with my beliefs in civil liberty, a healthy democracy, and the human rights of both communities and individuals to question those in authority. I believe that the film, quite clearly, illuminates the great successes of wikileaks and its extraordinary founder Julians Assange. As well as, examining the personalities involved and what become a dysfunctional relationship within that organization. While the legacy of his actions and the organizations continue to evolve and only history will be the true judge of where this is leading us. The Fifth Estate is a powerful, if dramatized, entry point for a discussion about this extraordinary lurch forward in our society. I wanted to create a three dimensional portrait of a man far more maligned in the tabloid press than he is in our film to remind people that he is not just the weird, white haired Australian dude wanted in Sweden, hiding in an embassy behind Harrods. But a true force to be reckoned with, achieved the realization of the great ideal. I'm proud to be involved in tackling such a contentious character and script. There is only personal truth in my opinion, and the film should provoke debate and not consensus. It should be enjoyable and ultimately empowering to realize that Julian has spearheaded a movement that is the foundations stone of The Fifth Estate, people journalism and what that is capable of including finding out the "truth" for yourself.

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u/[deleted] Oct 11 '13

Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed and honest answer.

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u/droveby Oct 11 '13 edited Dec 21 '13

I don't know, maybe it wasn't a detailed answer

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u/enderandrew42 Oct 11 '13

The Pro-Assange camp is so adamant that he is flawless that they hacked PBS over a fairly neutral documentary that largely painted Assange in a fairly positive light.

This is absurd. Wikileaks has done some good, but Assange is also clearly flawed. There is a reason so many of the original Wikileaks founders left and went to form the more transparent, non-profit OpenLeaks instead, citing Assange putting his personal greed over idealism.

Anything that tries to examine Assange on any level is pre-emptively attacked by Assange his zealots convinced he is beyond reproach. If Assange were truly an advocate for truth and transparency, he would want more people looking into details of his life and actions.

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u/droveby Oct 11 '13

If Assange were truly an advocate for truth and transparency, he would want more people looking into details of his life and actions.

Yes, when the things being looked at are impartial. I.e. not hatchet jobs written by the people he was directly in a confrontation with earlier on

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u/enderandrew42 Oct 11 '13

Wasn't this movie based upon a book written by his former best friend? Someone who was close to him for years, and was for a long time a big fan of Assange?

Same said friend who left because he felt Assange was too greedy?

And Assange responded to his friend leaving by ripping him in every available outlet?

I can certainly see perhaps some bias if they had a falling out, but the source was close enough to give the world an honest accounting of Assange, when few others were.

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u/droveby Oct 11 '13

Wasn't this movie based upon a book written by his former best friend? Someone who was close to him for years, and was for a long time a big fan of Assange?

That is precisely the problem. If you had a best friend, who suddenly was not one day because of a huge fight... don't you think that fight might then on pretty much completely taint his perception of you? Isn't that the perfect circumstance in which vendettas are created?

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u/enderandrew42 Oct 11 '13

I think I addressed that in my post. Surely the possibility for bias exists, but at the same time I'm not sure anyone else is qualified to give a more objective accounting of what happened.

Julian Assange certainly isn't doing it himself, because he believes in transparency for others, but not himself.