For his role as a villainous cowboy in The Power of the Dog, Benedict Cumberbatch used method acting. This method of never going out of character annoyed Jesse Plemons.
Jesse Plemons revisited Benedict Cumberbatch’s method of portraying his gruff cowboy character Phil Burbank during the filming of Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog. This method of acting definitely intensified their dynamic in front of the camera. “It sets the mood,” Jesse Plemons revealed to variety.
“It kind of starts to seep in and create a blur in one way or another,” he says. In the Netflix film, based on Thomas Savage’s 1967 novel, Benedict Cumberbatch plays a wealthy rancher in Montana in 1925 who mourns Bronco Henry, his late mentor and likely lover.
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His repressed feelings lead him to tyrannize his brother George played by Jesse Plemons, his sister-in-law Rose (Kirsten Dunst) and the latter’s son Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee). Jesse Plemons admits Benedict Cumberbatch almost unknowingly went too far. “There was a moment when he got on my nerves,” he said.
He threw me “Hey, my fat”. He didn’t say “big pile”. There are still few people in life who throw “Hey, man” and I was like “Damn, it’s not possible”
Later, as the cast reunited over dinner, Benedict Cumberbatch apologized when Jesse Plemons told him the remark “pissed him off”. “He said ‘I’m so sorry,'” Plemons said, mimicking the English accent and laughing. “I said, ‘No, don’t worry. It was great.'”
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Benedict Cumberbatch may have been sorry, but Phil Burbank was not. “Everyone was in the same boat,” the actor explained. “I was introduced to the crews as Phil. Jane was like, ‘This is Phil. You’re going to work with Phil. Benedict is really nice but you’re going to meet him at the end of the shoot.’ It gave me permission to commit to this character whose behavior is sometimes disgusting, and not feel sorry, embarrassed or embarrassed about it in any way.”
Benedict Cumberbatch generally kept his distance from his partners. Jesse Plemons recalls spending time on set with Kirsten Dunst and Kodi Smit-McPhee, but Cumberbatch “stayed in his corner braiding [des cordes comme son personnage, ndlr], doing his thing or rolling cigarettes. I think that helped a lot.”
Atmosphere…
