Benedict Cumberbatch has defended his Oscar-nominated movie The Power of The Dog in which he plays the lead role, after actor Sam Elliott called it 'a piece of s**t.'
The 45-year-old actor responded to scathing rant from Elliott - a man who built his career in Westerns - who bashed the Western Psychological drama for having characters "running around in chaps and no shirts".
The 77-year-old veteran actor made the remarks on Marc Maron's WTF podcast last week and continued into condescending critique, questioning what New Zealand native director Jane Campion, "knows about the American West".
The Power of the Dog tells the story of a cowboy named Phil Burbank, a rancher who falls in love with a boy named Peter, the son of a widow, Rose, who moved to the ranch Phil owns with his brother.
But Cumberbatch defends his closeted homosexual character Phil Burbank and told during BAFTA 's Film Sessions on Friday that it's important that 'the struggles' of those like his character are portrayed to 'get to the root cause'.
Addressing Elliott's comments, he said: "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," Digital Spy reports.
"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 this way."
He continued: "These people still exist in our world. 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.
“And beyond that reaction, that sort of denial that anybody could have anything other than a heteronormative existence because of what they do for a living or where they’re born.”
Cumberbatch concluded: "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."
Meanwhile the film, is based on Thomas Savage's 1967 novel of the same name has also attracted explanation, which is that it's inspired by the Bible, borrowing from Psalm 22:20, when Jesus is suffering on the cross.
It reads: “Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs.”
The Power of the Dog is available now on Netflix and in UK cinemas.
