Benedict Cumberbatch is one of the most tremendously contributing heartthrobs in the industry, and there’s absolutely no doubt about it. Proving his incredible range as an actor time and time again, the MCU star has given utterly captivating in nearly all of his movies. His commitment and dedication to his work are more than enough to leave anyone amazed.
And he lived up to his praise while shooting the Oscar-winning movie, The Power of the Dog (2021), judging how he completely stepped into method acting for his role and didn’t even shower for six whole days, among other extremes.
Benedict Cumberbatch Didn’t Shower For 6 Days For This Movie
This all dates back to when Benedict Cumberbatch was busy filming Jane Campion‘s The Power of the Dog. During that time, Campion gave him the freedom to act like his character, Phil Burbank, in real life for the 12 weeks that the movie was filmed.
The Doctor Strange actor, however, took her advice too much to heart, and ended up learning how to play the banjo, castrate a bull, roll a cigarette with a single hand, and even went without showering for six whole days! The reasoning behind not bathing? Simply because that’s what his character did.
His extreme method acting even led him to stop being a gentleman on sets and agree to everything that the cast said to him, judging how that’s exactly what his character would do. But thankfully, Benedict Cumberbatch went back to being himself in the evenings, when he returned home from sets to his family.
Benedict Cumberbatch’s Role In The Power of the Dog (2021)
Benedict Cumberbatch portrayed the character of Phil Burbank, a rather cruel rancher in the book-based movie, The Power of the Dog. Sharing his perspective on the film, Cumberbatch said,
“It’s a lesson in how tangled up you can become, how toxic masculinity can become if your true identity is not allowed or tolerated or celebrated or accepted.”
Furthermore, the Sherlock star’s performance too was widely commended by fans and critics alike. As said by Insider,
“His performance is commanding and brave: to put it simply, Cumberbatch has never been this good.”
All in all, thanks to his hard work paying off, the movie ended up receiving numerous Oscar nominations and even won one Academy Award for Best Achievement in Directing, along with 94% approval ratings from Rotten Tomatoes.
You can watch The Power of the Dog on Netflix.
Source: CheatSheet
