Benedict Cumberbatch Talks Skills He Acquired From ‘The Power Of The Dog’

Benedict Cumberbatch did a very un-Sherlock act by rescuing a family from a herd of cows with his learned skills from "The Power of the Dog."  

In the movie, he starred as 'Phil Burbank,' a hot-tempered ranch owner, and this role got him an Oscar nomination which would be his second.

Cumberbatch recently told Graham Norton how he prepared for his role in the production and how he put the acquired skill of wrangling cattle to good use.

Cumberbatch's role in Netflix's "The Power of the Dog" taught him to wrangle cattle after spending two months on a ranch in Montana.

Daily Mail reported that Jane Campion, the movie director urged the English actor to remain in character during breaks from production. This led him to spend that period on the ranch to get used to the role.  

Campion was secure about all the things Cumberbatch was insecure about. She would tell him to do whatever he had to do to feel like he owned the different experience.

In his conversation with Norton, he revealed that spending two months in Montana was for him to experience life on a ranch.

The actor admitted regarding his experience, "It was incredible and so far from anything I have ever done." He further talked about using his rounding-up skills to help a family trapped in a field.

In August, Cumberbatch returned from filming and was headed to a beach when he came across a family who could not move on the field because of a herd of cows.

The 45-year-old believed he could part the waves of cattle, and he did so. The family was grateful to the actor and exclaimed, "That was incredible."

As the conversation with Norton went on, he talked about his Oscar nomination for Best Actor resulting from the eleven astounding thumbs up that "The Power of the Dog" received before the ceremony next month. Cumberbatch said:

"Whatever happens on the night, the whole raft of those nominations are so richly deserved, and obviously, I am thrilled that the four of us as a cast are nominated."

He added that they would be great on the dance floor, and it would be a wonderful event irrespective of any occurrence.

The four nominated casts included Cumberbatch, Kodi Smit-McPhee for Best Supporting Actor, Kirsten Dunst for Best Actress, and Campion for Best Director.

However, there were several other nominations for the movie. The other categories include Achievement in Sound, Original Score, Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing, Cinematography, Production Design, and Best Picture.

The Blast previously reported how "The Power of the Dog" actor felt about getting to know his movie received many nominations.

He talked with Deadline and described his feeling as 'such a weird heightened thing.' He also commended the movie director for her skill in making the cast members perform so realistically.

Cumberbatch called her 'extraordinarily gifted with a spiritual intuition' and said she viewed him the same way she saw the character, just like her view of the other co-stars.  

The Primetime Emmy Award Recipient has never been a fan of watching his works as he felt weird and uncomfortable doing so.

But he got over that as Campion enabled him to watch "The Power of the Dog" to get the hang of his performance. Cumberbatch later admitted that the performances were masterful and incredible.

Last November, The Blast revealed some shocking behind-the-scene details about the filming of "The Power of the Dog." Cumberbatch was reported to have been poisoned three times during the filming process.

In an interview with Esquire Magazine around the same time, he talked about his role in the movie as an unsanitary ranch owner, which made him have layers of stink and smell awful.

The "Sherlock" actor was ashamed of being dirty during rehearsals and when he had to eat out with friends of Campion.

In addition to being unhygienic, he had to smoke tons of filterless cigarettes, which made him get nicotine poisoning three times. The actor used to be a smoker, but he quit in 2014 to make himself healthier.

Smoking a lot while filming "The Power of the Dog" was a horrible experience for Cumberbatch, and his health suffered during the period.