WikiLeaks Releases Julian Assange’s Letter Criticizing “The Fifth Estate”
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Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Star Trek Into Darkness actor Benedict Cumberbatch portrays WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in the new film The Fifth Estate. Before he began shooting the movie, WikiLeaks says, he tried to contact Assange, but the controversial figure declined the opportunity.
It was not because Assange has an issue with Cumberbatch, but rather because he believes The Fifth Estate is not a “good film.”
WikiLeaks on Wednesday published what it calls the “first letter” from Assange to Cumberbatch, dated Jan. 15 of this year, in which Assange responded to the actor’s attempt to reach out to him.
He wrote to Cumberbatch, “I believe you are a good person, but I do not believe that this film is a good film. I do not believe it is going to be positive for me or the people I care about. I believe that it is going to be overwhelmingly negative for me and the people I care about. It is based on a deceitful book by someone who has a vendetta against me and my organisation.”
Assange told Cumberbatch he believes the actor is a “decent person,” but is being used “as a hired gun, to assume the appearance of the truth in order to assassinate it.” Assange urged Cumberbatch to reconsider his involvement in the DreamWorks project.
In a separate press release issued by WikiLeaks Wednesday, the organization writes, “Cumberbatch’s reply to this email was courteous and considered. The actor communicated to Assange that aspects of the film’s script were troubling to him.”
Assange is currently holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, avoiding extradition to Sweden to face sexual assault charges.
The Fifth Estate opens nationwide Oct. 18.
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