In ‘The English Spy’, the actor plays double agent Greville Wynne, whose work was crucial in the Cuban missile crisis
Fans of spy novels are in luck. ‘The English spy’, little subtle translation into Spanish of the original ‘The Courier’ (The messenger), is based on the true story of Greville Wynne, one of those double agents who became crucial pieces of counterintelligence during the Cold War between Russia and the United States. Wynne was an electrical engineer recruited by MI5 to become a spy for British intelligence. Its role became decisive when the Cuban missile crisis seemed to tip the balance in favor of the Soviet country. Then, Wynne began working for the CIA leaking information about the plan that the Russians had undertaken in a mission fraught with dangers and whose ultimate objective was to prevent a nuclear war on a global scale.
Benedict Cumberbatch, with his old-fashioned demeanor and wonderful voice, stars in the second feature film by British director Dominic Cooke, who debuted adapting Ian McEwan in ‘On Chesil Beach’. “Spies are an interesting food for actors because they constantly wear a mask or are acting, and because personality changes are very fast,” says the actor, who humanizes his character, a businessman who suffers from dyslexia that almost prevents reading while on a mission worthy of 007.
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