Benedict Cumberbatch saved a stunned family from a herd of cows
Benedict Cumberbatch has told how he saved a terrified family from a herd of cows using his new cattle wrangling skills - but they couldn't believe their rescuer was Sherlock.
The TV and film star is a guest on tonight's (Friday) Graham Norton Show, where he recounts the tale about putting to use what he'd learned for Oscar-nominated The Power of the Dog.
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He stars as a rancher in the Jane Campion romance that has received 12 Academy nods and was encouraged to take a deep dive into the character in preparation for the role.
In the BBC One chat show, the actor known for starring in TV series Sherlock tells Norton that the skills turned out to be useful in real-life: "I came back from shooting the film in August and we were off to the beach.
"To get there we had to cross a field and in the field was a petrified family who just couldn’t move, they were frozen because of a herd of cows with calves.
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"I thought, 'I can do this,' and I just sort of parted the waves of cattle.
"The family was like, 'That was incredible. Hey, aren’t you Sherlock? It was very un-Sherlock activity!"
Talking about getting into the role of rancher Phil Burbank, Cumberbatch said: "Jane encouraged me to stay in character. She was very secure about all the things I was insecure about and said, 'Do whatever you have to do to feel ownership of this very different lived experience.'
"So, I went off to Montana for two months to find out what it is like to live on a ranch and to experience all those things you see in the film. It was incredible and so far from anything I have ever done."
Cumberbatch stars alongside Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst in The Power of the Dog, which has Oscar nominations for all of the major categories including best actor for the Doctor Strange star, best actress, two best supporting actor nods, best director and best film.
He said: "Whatever happens on the night the whole raft of those nominations are so richly deserved and obviously I am thrilled that the four of us as a cast are nominated.
"We are going to be awesome on that dancefloor – it’s going to be great no matter what happens."
The Graham Norton Show airs tonight (Friday) at 10.35pm on BBC One.
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