Benedict Cumberbatch has won wide praise for his performance as Julian Assange in 'The Fifth Estate', the film on the rise of WikiLeaks. Photo / AP
It was a performance that drew praise from Britain's Prime Minister, David Cameron, who gushed over Benedict Cumberbatch's "twitching" turn as Julian Assange.
But months before the release of the film charting the highs and lows of WikiLeaks, there were mutinous rumblings within the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, with the
whistleblowing website founder fuming at how he is portrayed, it has emerged.
The full text of an email from Assange to Cumberbatch, written in reply to Cumberbatch's request for a meeting in January, was released and showed how Assange had attempted to derail the production of the The Fifth Estate.
The Australian - who reportedly sleeps in a converted bathroom while trying to avoid extradition to Sweden over sexual assault allegations - said he and the actor would "forever be correlated in the public imagination".
But Assange went on. "I believe you are a good person, but I do not believe that this film is a good film."
