Benedict Cumberbatch The Imitation Game: 'Sherlock' Actor Is 'Angry' At The Way His 'Imitation Game' Character Was Treated By Queen Of England? Plus Find Out The Actor's Life Motto!
He may have gained stardom by his portrayal of legendary literary detective Sherlock Holmes on BBC, but it is his work in movies that have earned him critical praise and even talk of a possible Oscar award. The latest Benedict Cumberbatch movie is The Imitation Game, a biopic about math wiz and WWII hero Alan Turing, where the actor puts his conflicted genius acting skills to good use.
The movie revolves around the real life story of English mathematician and logician Alan Turing, who helped in the second war efforts by cracking the renowned Enigma code. The Enigma code, according to Benedict Cumberbatch' The Imitation Game trailer, is "an unbreakable Nazi code" which would help the Allied Forces win the war. There is much that plagues Turing, and he is later on persecuted for his homosexuality, which was still a criminal offense in the UK during that time. This drives the math genius to the edge, and later on leads to tragic consequences.
In a recent interview for the cover story of Flaunt magazine, the 38 year old actor reveals his realizations about the real life person that he portrayed so effectively in The Imitation Game. "It makes me very angry that the establishment actually then deigned to posthumously apologize or forgive him. I mean the word 'forgiveness'? The only person who ought to be using the word forgiveness is Alan. His behavior didn't need pardoning." It will be recalled that Turing was granted a posthumous pardon by the Queen in 2013.
This new Benedict Cumberbatch movie The Imitation Game is filled with notable UK actors that are familiar for their work in TV and movies. Keira Knightley is a co-star, as well as Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones) and Allen Leach (Tom Branson on Downton Abbey). It is directed by Morten Tyldum, a Norwegian film director who has won a BAFTA for Best Foreign Language film.
And while Oscar buzz is certainly surrounding the actor right now, he is certain that he takes nothing for granted and enjoying every moment of his life, whether people are watching or not. He shares in the same Flaunt magazine interview his motto, "I personally believe that heaven is on earth. That's one of the mottos I live by: dance as though no one is watching you, love as though you have never been hurt before, sing as though no one can hear you, live as though heaven is on earth."
