Benedict Cumberbatch has launched a staunch defence of his latest film The Power Of The Dog, after fellow actor Sam Elliott tore into the Netflix drama during a recent interview.
The former Sherlock star is currently in the running to win his first Oscar for his leading role in the Western, in which he plays ranch owner Phil Burbank.
While the film has largely won rave reviews, one viewer who was definitely not impressed was actor Sam Elliott, who has racked up a number of appearances in Westerns over the course of his career.
During an appearance on the podcast WTF, host Marc Maron asked whether Sam had watched The Power Of The Dog, with the A Star Is Born actor questioning: “You want to talk about that piece of shit?”
“All these fucking cowboys in that movie look like [Chippendales],” he claimed during the tirade. “They’re all running around in chaps and no shirts. There’s all these allusions to homosexuality throughout the fucking movie.”
Marc Maron then pointed out that part of the film’s plot is that Benedict’s character is closeted and struggling with his sexuality.
Turning his attention to filmmaker Jane Campion, Sam added: “What the fuck does this woman — she’s a brilliant director by the way, I love her work, previous work — but what the fuck does this woman from down there, New Zealand, know about the American West?
“And why in the fuck does she shoot this movie in New Zealand and call it Montana and say, ‘This is the way it was’?”
Speaking on Friday as part of Bafta’s Film Sessions, Benedict alluded to Sam’s criticisms, admitting he’d found them “very odd”.
“I’m trying very hard not to say anything about a very odd reaction that happened the other day on a radio podcast over here,” he said (per Digital Spy).
“Without meaning to stir over the ashes of that [...] someone really took offence to – I haven’t heard it so it’s unfair for me to comment in detail on it – to the West being portrayed in [a certain] way.”
“These people still exist in our world,” he said of his character in The Power Of The Dog, while defending the film.
“Whether it’s on our doorstep or whether it’s down the road or whether it’s someone we meet in a bar or pub or on the sports field.
“There is aggression and anger and frustration and an inability to control or know who you are in that moment that causes damage to that person and, as we know, damage to those around them.”
He added: “There’s no harm in looking at a character to get to the root causes of that. This is a very specific case of repression, but also due to an intolerance for that true identity that Phil is that he can’t fully be.
“The more we look under the hood of toxic masculinity and try to discover the root causes of it, the bigger chances we have of dealing with it when it arises with our children.”