Julian Assange requested actor Cumberbatch to reject role in new WikiLeaks film

Actor Benedict Cumberbatch has revealed Julian Assange requested him not to accept the lead role in the new WikiLeaks movie.

Cumberbatch, who plays Assange in The Fifth Estate, told the Guardian he had received the 10-page email from Assange, as he made final preparations to begin filming in January.

Cumberbatch said that the mail from Assange was a very considered, thorough, charming and intelligent account of why he thought this was morally wrong for him to be part of something he thought was going to be damaging in real terms.

According to the report, the actor said that the WikiLeaks founder characterised himself as a political refugee.

Assange has been outspoken in his opposition to the film, which he has described as a 'massive propaganda attack' on him and his website.

The report said that the movie is based on two books, by the German technology activist Daniel Domscheit-Berg and by Luke Harding and David Leigh of the Guardian, former collaborators with whom the Australian has now fallen out.

Cumberbatch, who said he made repeated unsuccessful requests to meet Assange before beginning filming, has defended the project, saying the film 'shows his ideas and integrity and self-sacrifice,' the report added.