Benedict Cumberbatch Explains Why He Refused To Talk To Kirsten Dunst On Set

Benedict Cumberbatch has revealed why he refused to talk to Kirsten Dunst on the set of their new film.

The pair star alongside one another in The Power of The Dog, which is set to land on Netflix soon and sees Cumberbatch play a cowboy working on a ranch in the 1920s.

Dunst plays his brother's wife, Rose, with whom Cumberbatch's character doesn't have, let's say, the best of relationships.

And speaking to NME about the making of the film, the Sherlock star said he tried to keep in character and never spoke to Dunst during production.

He told the site: "I didn't want to be really mean to Kirsten, but I needed to stay in character. So I didn't speak to her on-set. She was the same.

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"We were the negative to each other's positive. [We were] repelled by each other."

Cumberbatch has spoken previously about his methods acting during filming, which he took to extreme lengths.

He recently told Esquire UK that he didn't wash in an effort to get into character.

"I wanted people in the room to know what I smelt like," said the actor.

"It was hard, though. It wasn't just in rehearsals. I was going out to eat and meet friends of Jane and stuff. I was a bit embarrassed by the cleaner, in the place I was living."

And he even gave himself nicotine poisoning after smoking like a chimney.

He explained: "That was really hard. Filterless rollies, just take after take after take.

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"I gave myself nicotine poisoning three times. When you have to smoke a lot, it genuinely is horrible."

Earlier this year, Cumberbatch opened up about his thoughts on his craft and what he made of straight actors playing gay roles, having himself played Alan Turing in The Imitation Game.

He told IndieWire: "I feel very sensitive about representation, diversity, and inclusion. One of the appeals of the job was the idea that in this world, with this specific character, there was a lot that was private, hidden from view.

"It wasn't done without thought. I also feel slightly like, is this a thing where our dance card has to be public? Do we have to explain all our private moments in our sexual history? I don't think so.

"Jane chose us as actors to play those roles. That's her question to answer."

The Power of the Dog is set to land on Netflix on 1 December.

Topics: Entertainment, UK Entertainment, Netflix

Dominic Smithers

Dominic graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History. Like you, Dom has often questioned how much use a second language has been. Well, after stints working at the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express, along with never setting foot in France, he realised the answer is surprisingly little. But I guess, c'est la vie. Contact us at [email protected]

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