First Look: Benedict Cumberbatch As Alan Turing In 'The Imitation Game'

Alan Turing served his country during WWII, when he helped develop one of Enland's most significant machines to break German codes. He served mankind by doing other research and design that paved the way for future ideas in computer science and AI. And he was gay, for which led to criminal prosecution in 1952. That prosecution led to chemical castration, which Turing elected to undergo rather than going to prison.

Turing is the subject of a film called The Imitation Game, with Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead role. The actor doesn't look a lot like Turing, but he could very well be able to play him well regardless.

Below you can see the first official photo of the actor in the role, released in recognition of the fact that Turing was finally given a posthumous Royal Pardon in England, almost six decades after his death.

In honor of today's Royal Pardon, please find the first still released from the upcoming film, The Imitation Game. pic.twitter.com/qdJFHSAYj2

— The Imitation Game (@ImitationGame) December 24, 2013

That photo probably shows Turing at work at Bletchley Park, England's center of Intelligence operations during World War II. There, Turing was part of the  development of the "bombe," a machine which, based on Polish code-breaking efforts that had been in use for years, gave Allies access to German messages coded with the Enigma Machine. Reconstructed versions of the bombe look not unlike the machine Cumberbatch is seen with above.

The Imitation Game also stars Keira Knightley, Mark Strong, Matthew Goode, Rory Kinnear, Charles Dance, Allen Leech, and Matthew Beard. Morten Tyldum (Headhunters) directs; Clint Mansell provides the score.