Photographed by David Goldman and styled by Rose Forde, actor Benedict Cumberbatch covers the most recent issue of Flaunt magazine. Discussing his Oscar buzz movie The Imitation Game, in which he portrays WWII Enigma code-cracker Alan Turing, who was later arrested for being gay, Cumberbatch explains, “It was a hysterical era, of course. It was our version of McCarthyism; based on the red threat. They persecuted a man who, yes, went to a liberal college in Cambridge, where he probably forged more liberal views than most, but he didn’t actually think he was special–he just never apologized for his nature. The punishment was either two years of prison or chemical castration through weekly estrogen injections and he chose the latter simply because he wanted to carry on his work. Incredibly, even the change in his body made him look at the idea of cellular distortions and adaptions through various environmental influences. Everything he did in his work was influenced by his life.” Read more at Flaunt.com.
