Benedict Cumberbatch, who is Oscar nominated for his turn as rancher Phil Burbank in Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog,” joked during BBC’s “Graham Norton Show” that his Wild West cow-herding techniques came in handy while on vacation. “I came back from shooting the film in August and we were off to the beach,” Cumberbatch explained (via Insider) about returning to the U.K. after filming in New Zealand. “To get there we had to cross a field and in the field was a petrified family who just couldn’t move, they were frozen because of a herd of cows with calves.” Cumberbatch continued, “I thought, ‘I can do this,’ and I just sort of parted the waves of cattle. The family was like, ‘That was incredible. Hey, aren’t you Sherlock?’ It was very un-Sherlock activity!”

The “Spider-Man: No Way Home” star revealed that “POTD” director Campion introduced Cumberbatch as Phil on set. Related Benedict Cumberbatch Admits It’s ‘Tough’ to Bring Emotion to Marvel Movies Benedict Cumberbatch Rewrote ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Scenes: ‘It Needed to Get Darker’ Related 51 Directors’ Favorite Horror Movies: Bong Joon Ho, Quentin Tarantino, Guillermo del Toro, and More The 15 Best Vampire Movies Ever Made
Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. “The Power of the Dog” leads the 2022 Oscars with 12 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Cumberbatch, Best Supporting Actor for Jesse Plemons, Best Supporting Actress for Kirsten Dunst, and Best Director for Campion. Campion exclusively told IndieWire via a video interview with “The Piano” star Holly Hunter that while Cumberbatch had “no apparent qualities that would work for the story, except he’s charismatic,” she bet on the “Doctor Strange” actor. “I think Benedict, in everything that he’s done, has been extraordinary. I really guessed that he was wanting an opportunity to go very deep,” Campion said. “I needed someone to feel that ambition that this character can bring into you, because it’s a big, big journey.”  Campion continued, “What I tend to do is just really work on a 360-degree presence of that character so no matter what happened — if we went off script, anywhere we went — he could be Phil. He could improvise in any situation. When I first saw him let it rip, I was absolutely stunned, thrilled, because I felt like this is what we need, this is what the film needs, to see the threat of Phil explode.”