Benedict Cumberbatch Calls Sam Elliott's 'Power of the Dog' Criticisms 'Very Odd'

Benedict Cumberbatch is responding to Sam Elliott's negative reaction to his Oscar-nominated film The Power of the Dog.

Cumberbatch, 45, addressed Elliott's criticism of the film Friday during a BAFTA Film Sessions event.

"I'm trying very hard not to say anything about a very odd reaction that happened the other day on a radio podcast over here," Cumberbatch said.

"Without meaning to stir over the ashes of that ... someone really took offence to — I haven't heard it so it's unfair for me to comment in detail on it — to the West being portrayed in this way."

"Beyond that reaction," he added, "that sort of denial that anybody could have any other than a heteronormative existence because of what they do for a living or where they're born, there's also a massive intolerance within the world at large towards homosexuality still and toward an acceptance of the other and anything kind of difference... it's not a history lesson."

In the film, Cumberbatch stars as a grizzly cattle rancher who unexpectedly falls for the son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) of a widow, played by Kirsten Dunst, who recently moved to his ranch. The character grapples with his sexuality in an era and place that emphasizes binary gender roles and expectations.

Elliott, 77, previously made it clear he is not a fan of how the American West was portrayed in The Power of the Dog.

On an episode of the WTF with Marc Maron podcast, posted Feb. 28, the 1883 actor talked about what he claims a Los Angeles Times ad called an "evisceration of the American West" in the Jane Campion-written and directed film.

Likening the look of the "cowboys" in the film to Chippendales dancers, Elliott (who has appeared in many Western-set films and television series) said, "They're all running around in chaps and no shirts. There's all these allusions to homosexuality throughout the f---ing movie."

Pivoting to Campion, 67, Elliott continued, "Well, what the f--- does this woman — she's a brilliant director, by the way, I love her work, previous work — but what the f--- does this woman from down there, New Zealand, know about the American West?"

"And why in the f--- does she shoot this movie in New Zealand and call it Montana and say, 'This is the way it was'? " added the Oscar nominee.

Elliott said the filming location "rubbed [him] the wrong way," along with what he calls the "myth" of "these macho men out there with the cattle."

"I just come from f---ing Texas where I was hanging out with families — not men, but families. Big, long, extended, multiple-generation families," he said.

The Power of the Dog has been a favorite over the current awards season, leading the Oscars hopefuls list with 12 nominations.