The Imitation Game has caused such a great fuss in the cinematographic world (critics and audience together) mainly because it is the biography of Alan Turing, a great man who was waiting to be revealed to the world as the great crypt-analyst and computer scientist that he was. Deadline traced the producers of the biography-drama and made them confess about the emerging of the idea to create an Alan Turing based movie and about the way in which they decided to parade with actors like Benedict Cumberbatch or Keira Knightley. Pete Hammond did so during The Contenders, the annual Oscar showcase of Deadline.
Ido Ostrowsky and Teddy Schwarzman (All Is Lost, 2013) were made to face questions like when did they stumble upon Alan Turing – the idea and why did they decide to turn his story into a movie. At this first round, number one answerer pointed at the fall of 2009 and more precisely, at a The Telegraph article mentioning the name of the computer genius, in which ‘’then Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, apologized on behalf of the government for the treatment of Alan Turing during World War II.’’ Immediately, the story appealed to the two male producers, who pondered not only upon the political position of Turing, who had saved numerous of lives during his share of WWII, but confessed that they were also drawn by the ‘’personal tragedy’’ which circled his life.
The second major question asked dealt with the on-screen display of the characters and the importance to cast the most suitable actors in the context of such an inspirational movie. The answer was not delayed and was delivered in simple (but maybe contradictory) terms, as the independent film was not ‘’trying to cast people to increase (their) foreign sales.’’ Not choosing American high-profile actors had its major role in the authenticity of the movie. Their initial idea was to make everything needed in order to ‘’protect the story’’. Thus, they stayed with the people ‘’most organic to the roles’’, who voluntarily joined the project.
Benedict Cumberbatch was one of the first actors to prove his interest in the life of Alan Turing and in the development of the picture based on the story of a WWII hero. His being British and the feverish interest indicated where not the only reasons of choosing the actor for the main part. According to recent research, scientists suspect a relationship between him and his (real-life) ancestor, Alan Turing.