(NOTE LANGUAGE) Jane Campion spelled out what she thought of Western veteran Sam Elliott‘s criticism of her film The Power of the Dog. Literally.
“I think he’s being a bit of a B-I-T-C-H,” she told Variety on the red carpet of the Directors Guild Awards in Los Angeles Saturday night. “He’s not a cowboy; he’s an actor,” Campion went on.
As reported, the Lonesome Dove veteran and 1883 star recently told Marc Maron‘s WTF podcast that, although he called Campion a “brilliant director,” in his opinion, the award-winning film “a piece of s***.” He also took offense at the portrayals of cowboys in the movie, as well as its “allusions to homosexuality.” Benedict Cumberbatch plays a grizzled rancher in The Power of the Dog, who is also repressing his gay identity.
Campion continued, “The West is a mythic space and there’s a lot of room on the range,” adding of Elliott’s headline-grabbing critique, “I think it’s a little bit sexist.”
Elliott appears to be in the minority in his blunt disdain for The Power of the Dog, at least where critics are concerned. Campion was named best director at the DGA Awards, officially making her the frontrunner to win best director honors at the Academy Awards, airing live March 27 on ABC.
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