1883 actor Sam Elliott says gay cowboy film The Power of the Dog ‘is a piece of s**t’
Actor Sam Elliott calls The Power of the Dog a ‘piece of s***’ (Greg Doherty/Getty Images for Wynn Las Vegas)
1883 star Sam Elliott has called Jane Campion’s Oscar-nominated The Power of the Dog a “piece of s**t”.
Elliott, a legend of the western genre, slated the film citing its depiction of cowboys and “allusions of homosexuality”.
Speaking on the podcast WTF with Marc Maron, Elliott compared the cowboys in The Power of the Dog to Chippendales who “wear bowties and not much else”.
“That’s what all these f**king cowboys in that movie looked like,” he added.
“They’re running around in chaps and no shirts. There’s all these allusions of homosexuality throughout the movie.”
In The Power of the Dog, it is heavily implied that Benedict Cumberbatch’s character is closeted, and he shares an intense chemistry with another man.
Objecting to Cumberbatch’s wardrobe, he continued: “He had two pairs of chaps – a woolly pair and a leather pair. And every f**king time he would walk in from somewhere – he never was on a horse – he’d walk in to the f**king house, storm up the f**king stairs, go lay in his bed, in his chaps and play the banjo.”
Sam Elliott also questioned why director Jane Campion had made the film.
“What the f**k does this woman from down there [Campion, who is from New Zealand] know about the American west?” he said.
“Why the f**k did she shoot this movie in New Zealand and call it Montana? And say this is the way it was?”
He did, however, call Campion a “brilliant director”.
Elliott also complained “the myth is that [cowboys] were these macho men out there with cattle”.
He said: “I just came from Texas where I was hanging out with families – not men – but families. Big, long, extended, multiple-generation families that made their livings…
“Their lives were all about being about cowboys. And boy, when I f**king saw that (movie), I thought, ‘What the f**k’.”
Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hiddleston attend a screening of The Power of the Dog in London (David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Netflix)
Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays The Power of the Dog‘s lead, has defended his casting as a closeted rancher in the movie, saying the decision “wasn’t done without thought”.
The actor told IndieWire: “I feel very sensitive about representation, diversity and inclusion.
“One of the appeals of the job was the idea that in this world, with this specific character, there was a lot that was private, hidden from view.
“It wasn’t done without thought. I also feel slightly like, is this a thing where our dance card has to be public?
“Do we have to explain all our private moments in our sexual history? I don’t think so.”
