Like countless others in Hollywood, Benedict Cumberbatch is a method actor, which means that he’ll go through great lengths to fully immerse himself into a character’s psyche —and sometimes, those skills can come in handy. The 25-year-old actor revealed that he saved a family from a roaming herd of cattle by using the ranch handling skills he learned while undergoing production onNetflix’sThe Power of the Dog.
Cumberbatch plays a skilled rancher named Phil Burbank in theNetflixfilm, which was directed by Jane Campion and released in late-2021.The Power of the Dogperformed extremely well with critics, earning a total of 12 nominations at the 94th Academy Awards, including Best Director and Adapted Screenplay for Campion as well as aBest Actor in a Leading Role nodfor Cumberbatch.
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During a recent appearance at BBC’sGraham Norton Show, Cumberbatch explained that he found himself applying some of his ranching skills while he was on a beach in the UK after production had wrapped onThe Power of the Dog. “I came back from shooting the film in August, and we were off to the beach. To get there we had to cross a field and in the field was a petrified family who just couldn’t move, they were frozen because of a herd of cows with calves,” Cumberbatch said, via Insider. “I thought, ‘I can do this,’ and I just sort of parted the waves of cattle. The family was like, ‘That was incredible. Hey, aren’t you Sherlock?’ It was very un-Sherlock activity!”
The Power of the Dog, based on the 1967 novel by Thomas Savage, is set on a ranch in 1925’s Montana. In addition to Cumberbatch,The Power of The Dogstars Jesse Plemmons, Kirsten Dunst, and Kodi Smit-McPhee, among others. In the film, Cumberbatch’s Phil Burbank is a cruel, tyrannical rancher who takes a dislike for his brother’s new wife and son. The character is so despicable that evenCumberbatch’s MCU costar Tom Hollandloathes him.
Besides the Oscar buzz surrounding his role inThe Power of the Dog, Cumberbatch has been busy with the anticipation for the release ofDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which debuts on May 6. The film started shooting in November 2020, but production came to a halt due to COVID-19 before resuming in March 2021.Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnessrecently underwent reshoots, and while director Sam Raimi is unsure whether filming has definitely wrapped or not, the film is expected to debut on June 06, 2025.
The Power of the Dogis streaming on Netflix.
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