Veteran actor Sam Elliott has shared his scathing criticism of Jane Campion’s Oscar frontrunner The Power of the Dog in a new interview.
The 77-year-old A Star Is Born star, who has appeared in a large number of Westerns over his career, revealed that he has been unimpressed with the movie’s depiction of cowboys as well as its “allusions of homosexuality.”
Speaking candidly during a wide-ranging interview with Marc Maron, The Ranch actor referred to the 12-time Oscar-nominated film as a “piece of s***” as he aired his grievances about the project.
The 1883 star compared the cowboys in the Netflix film to Chippendales dancers as he stated: “That’s what all these f***ing cowboys in that movie looked like. They’re running around in chaps and no shirts. There’s all these allusions of homosexuality throughout the movie.”
At which point, host Maron stepped in to point out that the film did in fact suggest that the lead character — played by Benedict Cumberbatch — was a closeted homosexual.
However, Elliott went on to criticize what he claimed to be Campion’s lack of insight into the world she had created for the big screen.
Explaining that he believed she is a “brilliant director,” the actor shared his issues with the New Zealand filmmaker’s creative decisions as he questioned: “What the f*** does this woman from down there know about the American West?
“Why the f*** did she shoot this movie in New Zealand and call it Montana? And say ‘this is the way it was’?” he continued.
Recalling his recent time spent in Texas while filming Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone prequel series 1883, Elliott continued: “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 …
“And their lives were all about being about cowboys. And boy, when I f***ing saw that [movie], I thought, ‘What the f***.’”
When Maron tried to defend the film, Elliott retorted: “Where’s the western in this western? I mean, Cumberbatch never got out of his f****** chaps.
“He had two pairs of chaps — a woolly pair and a leather pair. And every f***ing time he would walk in from somewhere — he never was on a horse — he’d walk in to the f***ing house, storm up the f***ing stairs, go lay in his bed, in his chaps and play the banjo.”
