Benedict Cumberbatch Shares His Emotional Journey as Phil in ‘The Power of the Dog’ and That Teary Ending

Published 03/22/2022, 9:30 AM EDT

via Imago

The Power of the Dog has created quite a buzz for itself. With its amazing performance by all the artists in the film. Finally, Benedict Cumberbatch, who played the role of Phil Burbank, has taken the audience to his emotional journey on the set of The Power of the Dog.

The Power of the Dog is a Western psychological drama film written and created by Jane Campion. The film is adapted from the novel of the same name by Thomas Savage, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, and Kodi Smit-McPhee. This film covers a lot of themes, which include love, grief, resentment, jealousy, masculinity, and sexuality. It has received a lot of positive critical reviews from the critics as well as the audience.

National Herald claims the film as, “While The Piano remains a haunting exploration of female desire, The Power of the Dog is a long-delayed contemplation on masculinity from the female eye, both about repression and control.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

After its release, the film has received twelve nominations at the 94th Academy Awards. The nominations include Best Picture, Best Director for Campion, Best Actor for Cumberbatch, Best Supporting Actor for both Plemons and Smit-McPhee, and Best Supporting Actress for Dunst. The film also won seven nominations in Golden Globe Awards.

Now, let’s talk about Benedict Cumberbatch’s journey as Phil in the film, The Power of the Dog.

DIVE DEEPER

CODA Edges Ahead of Netflix’s The Power of The Dog in The Oscar Race

almost 3 years ago

Benedict Cumberbatch’s journey as Phil in The Power of Dog

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

In an interview with Queue, Benedict Cumberbatch shares his journey as Phil Burbank and how the entire experience is overwhelming for him.

At the end of the film, The Power of the Dog, when Phil dies, Cumberbatch is playing the coffin scene. So, for more realistic filming, they even put the coffin lid over him. Cumberbatch, is usually not claustrophobic. But when a brief amount of time has passed, he enquires with the crew about what is happening outside. But when he woke up from the coffin, he found himself in a different scene. Jeff Buckley’s Hallelujah is playing. He confesses, “They lifted the coffin lid, and the entire crew and the cast were still in the country was standing around with candles and a glass of champagne, raising a toast to dead Phil, and saying hello to me.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

According to Cumberbatch, the entire scene is very synchronized, not feel they were against the filmmaking process. The movie is streaming on Netflix. Tell us in the comment section how you felt about Benedict’s character.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

ADVERTISEMENT

Alivia Paul

524 articles

Alivia Paul is an author at Netflix Junkie. Having completed her bachelor’s in English Literature and Master’s in Journalism and Mass Communication, Alivia, a passionate writer, looks to combine her penmanship with her love for different content in different languages on different platforms, to deliver engaging content to her readers. Some of her favorite shows are Lucifer, You, Sweet Tooth, Crash Landing On You, and Sex and The City.

ADVERTISEMENT

EDITORS' PICK