The ‘petrified family’ was saved from a herd of cows by Benedict Cumberbatch

Benedict Cumberbatch Saved ‘petrified Family’ From A Herd Of Cows

The 45-year-old actor, who plays cattle rancher Phil Burbank in the Oscar-nominated film ‘The Power of the Dog,’ spent two months in Montana to get a taste of ranch life.

“Jane pushed me to stay in character,” he said on “The Graham Norton Show,” referring to filmmaker Jane Campion. ‘Do whatever it takes to feel ownership of this very different lived experience,’ she advised, confident in all the things I was insecure about.

So I traveled to Montana for two months to see what it’s like to live on a ranch and to do all the things that you see in the movie. It was fantastic and unlike anything, I’d ever done before.”

When the ‘Doctor Strange’ star saw the terrified family, he used his experience to wrangle the cows away from them, turning them into a real-life hero.

“I came back from shooting the film in August, and we were off to the beach,” Benedict recalls. We had to cross a field to get there, and there was a scared family in the field who couldn’t move because of a herd of cows with calves.

I thought to myself, “I can do this,” and I simply split the herds of cattle. ‘That was wonderful,’ the family exclaimed. ‘Are you Sherlock Holmes?’ It was a very un-Sherlockian escapade!”

With 12 nominations, the critically acclaimed Western leads the nominations for the 2018 Academy Awards.

The film received nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor for Benedict Cumberbatch, Best Supporting Actress for Kirsten Dunst, and Best Supporting Actor for both Kodi Smit-McPhee and Jesse Plemons in the most prestigious categories.

“Whatever happens on the night, all of those nominations are so thoroughly deserved,” Benedict said. “Obviously, I am happy that the four of us as a group are nominated.” We’re going to be incredible on that dancefloor — no matter what happens, it’ll be fantastic.”

‘The Graham Norton Show airs on BBC One at 10.35 p.m. on Friday, February 25th, and is available on BBC iPlayer.