Jane Campion rejects Sam Elliott’s ‘Power of the Dog’ complaints: ‘He’s not a cowboy’

“The Energy of the Canine” author and director Jane Campion has responded to actor Sam Elliott’s derogatory feedback about her Oscar-nominated western drama.

In a red-carpet interview with Variety at Saturday’s Administrators Guild of America Awards, Campion rejected Elliott’s scathing tackle the acclaimed Netflix movie. Then she gained the highest prize on the Beverly Hills ceremony for her work on “The Energy of the Canine.”

“I believe Sam … he was being a bit of little bit of a b—,” Campion mentioned.

“I’m sorry to say it, however he’s not a cowboy. He’s an actor. And the West is a mythic area, and there’s numerous room on the vary.”

Elliott — who made a reputation for himself appearing in westerns — drew sharp criticism earlier this month for complaining about “The Energy of the Canine” and its “allusions to homosexuality” on comedian Marc Maron’s podcast.

He additionally doubted Oscar-winning author and twice-Oscar-nominated director Campion’s authority over the style, asking, “What the f— does this lady from [New Zealand] know in regards to the American West” and “Why within the f— did she shoot this film in New Zealand and name it Montana?”

“I believe it’s a bit of bit sexist … if you consider the variety of wonderful westerns that have been made in Spain by Sergio Leone,” Campion instructed Selection.

“I take into account myself a creator. And I believe he sees me as a lady or one thing much less, at first, and I don’t respect that.”

Campion isn’t the primary individual from “Energy of the Canine” to problem Elliott’s statements in regards to the film, which is nominated for 12 Oscars — greater than some other title this yr — together with director and finest image.

With out naming names, Benedict Cumberbatch — who stars as proud rancher Phil Burbank in “The Energy of the Canine” — known as Elliott’s stance on the movie “very odd” throughout a BAFTA Movie Periods interview final week.

After Elliott dismissively likened the cowboys in “The Energy of the Canine” to Chippendales dancers, Cumberbatch condemned the performer’s “denial that anyone may have something aside from a heteronormative existence due to what they do for a residing or the place they’re born.”

He additionally denounced “a large intolerance throughout the world at massive in the direction of homosexuality nonetheless, in the direction of an acceptance of the ‘different,’ of any form of distinction, and no extra so than on this prism of conformity within the sense of what’s anticipated in a person within the type of western-archetype mould of masculinity.”

Representatives for Elliott didn’t instantly reply Sunday to a request for remark.

“I’m right here as a result of I care about girls having voices,” Campion mentioned Saturday throughout her DGA acceptance speech, based on the New York Occasions, “and I’m so excited in regards to the subsequent technology of filmmakers.”

Along with Campion’s victory for “The Energy of the Canine,” Maggie Gyllenhaal of “The Misplaced Daughter” obtained the DGA award for first-time function movie, whereas Mark Mylod (“Succession”), Lucia Aniello (“Hacks”) and Barry Jenkins (“The Underground Railroad”) claimed the highest TV prizes.