Benedict Cumberbatch spent hours with relatives of late scientist Alan Turning to prepare for The Imitation Game. He regrets that it took the world six decades to know of the man's achievements
Until recenty not many people knew about Alan Turning’s role in the Allies’ victory in World War II...
Many of Turning’s fellow mates were even unaware of his integral role in the Allies’ victory until last year when the Queen issued a posthumous pardon letter. It took the world six years to come to know of the scientist’s achievements. When people watch this movie they go through the extremes of emotions. They are moved by just not the demise of the man but also how shameful his death was. They also get furious at the fact that a man of that stature is so less talked about.
It’s one of the magnifications of the true tragedy of this man’s life. He should be on bank notes in the UK; he should be held in line with Darwin and Newton as a scientific pioneer. It is a huge injustice that he isn't.
How did you prepare for the role of Alan TurningIJ
I credit the movie because it gave me access to some of the scientists surviving colleagues and nieces and I took full advantage of it. I wanted the character to look real and believable. Turning had to struggle with his stammering and I wanted to portray it exactly like him. That is why I spent hours in front of them, perfecting which consonants to struggle to make it seem like the late scientist’s.
The most rewarding comment came from his nieces when they said that it was like he was there with them again. It was wonderful to hear. There was always a weight of responsibility to get it right.
Were you aware that so many people haven’t even heard of Alan TuringIJ
His story isn’t as upfront as it should be. It was only last year with the Queen’s apology that a great deal of light was thrown on him. It was followed by pardon from the England government and even US President Obama listed him as one of the greatest British scientist along with Issac Newton and Charles Darwin.
At the end, being a celebrated name does not signify your importance. What needs to be investigated is what the man actually achieved in his lifetime. I think one of the things that I was most passionate about this film was it to receive a very broad reception. I wanted maximum audience for this movie so that everybody is familiar with Turning’s story.
Turing did a lot of work at University of Manchester and you studied there, so you must have known about him.
Yes, I was aware of him during my school days and I was also aware of Derek Jacobi’s phenomenal performance of Turning in the play Breaking the Code. I saw the televised version of it. But I didn’t know the whole story until then.
I had an idea of him, but when I read Graham Moore’s script for The Imitation Game and tried to sort of forensically scavenge as best I could for further reading material, I discovered a lot more. There is quite a bit of literature about him, such as Andrew Hodges’ and David leavitt’s biographies. A few people were also generous enough to give me their time to talk about meeting him and knowing him in person.
But you immediately hit walls as a sort of dumb actor trying to understand algebra. It is another language and it is an expertise that takes a lifetime and a PhD in pure math. It’s incredibly distant, so to try and get closer to someone who we don't have footage of is difficult. Fortunately, there were a lot of accounts of how he talked, the way he moved and his body language around people that helped me a lot. It was an evolving kind of experiment in how much to play with what is known of him through these accounts.
Why do you think directors cast you to play real life smart people like Turning, Julian Assange and Stephen Hawking (in the 2004 TV movieHawking)IJ
I don’t know; you’d have to ask my directors. (laughs) It’s very flattering on one account, it’s quite disturbing on another. Because I’m far removed from the level of intelligence of the characters I’ve been lucky enough to portray.
What I try to look for is something that a general audience can relate to, to have an investment in these extraordinary people who achieve extraordinary things. That’s an easy task for an actor, to humanise these incredible machines of ideas that some of these people are. It’s not always easy, but that’s the challenge, and that’s what I’ve enjoyed doing. I’m very lucky.
What difference have you found in portraying a real person and playing a fictional characterIJ
If you’re talking about playing an iconic superhero, then there’s a huge pressure that comes with the expectations of what you do with that material, even though it’s fictitious. If it’s someone that’s real, then the pressure is very different. You always have a rightful kind of responsibility of protecting a legacy. It’s about trying to do a good job.c