He’s had enough, but instead of threatening to beat them up, like certain stars do (ahem, Justin Bieber and Kanye West), Benedict Cumberbatch sent out his own style of message to the photographers desperately trying to get a snap of the Sherlock star.

Benedict CumberbatchCumberbatch's Assange in The Fifth Estate

"Go photograph Egypt and show the world something important," he said via a piece of paper covering his face. It didn’t stop there, the star had a flurry of politically fuelled messages. Not a bad way to get your point across, considering the photographers are there specifically to take your photo.

“Questions we have a right to ask in a democracy – [David] Cameron, Theresa May, GCHQ, teachers, parents, each other… Hard drives smashed, journalists detained at airports. Democracy?” the first two pages of his silent messaging system read. “Schedule 7 Prior restraint – is this erosion of civil liberties winning the war on terror? What do they not want you to know? And how did they get to know it? Does the exposure of their techniques cause a threat to our security or does it just cause them embarrassment?” he went on to say in subsequent pages.

Perhaps Cumberbatch’s upcoming role as Julian Assange has fuelled his passion for a more open media, for truth and transparency from the powers that be. Perhaps, though, and this is more likely: he’s a well-educated, rather privileged man who has the luxury of learning. You can catch Cumberbatch as Assange on October 18th in the U.S, or a week earlier in the U.K on the 11th.

Watch the Fifth Estate trailer

Benedict Cumberbatch Fifth EstateCumberbatch as Julian Assange (complete with rain mac) in The Fifth Estate