Method acting is a Hollywood tradition that’s netted many an Oscar and irritated thousands of coworkers, but it’s likely never been this stinky before. For The Power of the Dog, the new Netflix psychological-thriller-meets-cowboy-romance, Benedict Cumberbatch joins the unwashed ranks of celebrities like Jake Gyllenhaal and Ashton Kutcher. To stay fully in character, the actor didn’t shower for six days. 

It was a choice wholly encouraged by Oscar-winning director and writer Jane Campion, whose work on The Piano saw Holly Hunter devise an entire secret sign language in character. But it was occasionally a struggle to force the naturally demure Cumberbatch into the more aggressive role of Phil. “Ben does a lot of apologizing and politeness work,” Campion told The Hollywood Reporter. “I said I don’t want to hear you say anything other than ‘no.’ And never apologize. Just never.” 

Soon, he took on his character’s taciturn, irritable manner. “[Campion] introduced me to the crew as Phil and said, ‘You’ll meet Benedict at the end. Benedict’s really nice. Phil is Phil,’” Cumberbatch told THR. “And it just gave me carte blanche to say, ‘No,’ to be Phil, really. To stand in his shoes.”

It’s not the first time Cumberbatch has tangled with method acting. Earlier this year, to play a starving prisoner in The Courier, Cumberbatch lost 21 pounds. “You feel emotionally and physically very vulnerable, all of which plays very helpfully into a character that must have endured this for months, if not years,” Cumberbatch told CinemaBlend.

Fortunately, at the end of the workday, the actor was able to return to his family, who stayed with him in New Zealand throughout the duration of the shoot — a comfort in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging his home, the U.K.. 

Even after 12 weeks, however, Cumberbatch couldn’t master every element of Phil’s character. “I’ve yet to master the banjo,” he told Variety. “If you put an instrument that takes years to practice in someone’s hands who’s had one year, or a few months in my case, there is nothing like pulling you out of an authentic experience, committing to something you believe is immersive and going, ‘Oh, this is such a fake moment.” Maybe next time, Ben.

Phil Burbank Character Breakdown | The Power of the Dog