Benedict Cumberbatch On ‘The Power Of The Dog’s “Humbling” 12 Oscar Nominations; Wes Anderson’s “Brain Gym” & The “Incredibly Enjoyable” New ‘Doctor Strange’
deadline.comBenedict Cumberbatch can’t stop laughing. Speaking to Deadline on Tuesday morning after receiving his Oscar nomination—one of a whopping 12 total noms for Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog—he confessed he had a “nauseating grin” on his face. “It’s such a weird, heightened thing,” he said.Netflix film The Power of the Dog, adapted by Campion from Thomas Savage’s novel of the same name, sees Cumberbatch playing Phil, a deeply-repressed rancher who holds a torch for his long-dead cowboy mentor.
The outwardly hyper-masculine and bullying Phil unexpectedly develops feelings for Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee) when his mother (Kirsten Dunst) marries Phil’s brother George (Jesse Plemons).Cumberbatch explained his deep admiration for Campion and her ability to connect with her actors, saying, “She saw me in the way that she saw the character, in the way that she sees everybody.
She’s such a profound white witch, that woman. She’s extraordinarily gifted. She has a spiritual intuition. It’s obviously a lot of craft and hard work and deep thought, but it’s centered on a little bit of magic, really.”Working with Campion had also inspired him to get more comfortable watching his own performance, he said. “What I’m trying to say about the 12 nominations is to sit in your own audience is an uncomfortable, weird experience.
I got over that a little bit because of Jane realizing the very best of what I’d tried to give her and seeing everything else going on around me.
Read more on deadline.com
