Sam Elliott has apologised for slamming Jane Campion’s Power of the Dog, saying he ‘feels terrible’ about what he said.
The veteran actor, 77, faced backlash from the cast and crew of the 2021 Netflix western after he ranted about the film in an interview in March.
Sam didn’t hold back when he was of the film, and in an expletive-ridden rant called it a piece of s**t’, .
The actor is well known for his work in westerns, including his debut in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), and said he took in the movie as ‘f*****g personal’.
Sam also took issue with what he called the ‘allusions of homosexuality throughout the movie’, saying the characters ‘wear bowties and not much else’.
Now Sam has apparently had a change of heart, as he took the opportunity to apologise for his words while speaking during ’s Contenders TV event on Sunday.
He stressed that he thinks Jane ‘was a brilliant director, and I want to apologise to the cast of The Power of the Dog, brilliant actors all.
‘I can only say that I’m sorry and I am. I am.’
The star also apologised to the gay community for the ‘allusions of homosexuality’ remark, stating he ‘didn’t articulate’ his feelings properly.
‘I said some things that hurt people and I feel terrible about that,’ he said. ‘The gay community has been incredible to me my entire career.
‘I’m sorry I hurt any of those friends and someone that I loved. And anyone else by the words that I used.’
Sam’s comments in March raised the hackles of those who had worked on the Oscar-winning film, none more so than director Jane, who remarked at the time that she thought Sam was being ‘a little bit of a b****.’
‘He’s not a cowboy, he’s an actor,’ she said of the man who suggested the New Zealand-born director doesn’t know much about the American west.
‘I think it’s a little bit sexist,’ Jane admitted, adding: ‘I think he thinks of me as a woman or something lesser first, and I don’t appreciate that.’
Jane’s response came after leading man Benedict Cumberbatch also responded to Sam’s criticism.
In light of Sam’s comments, Benedict – whose volatile cowboy Phil Burbank is struggling with toxic masculinity and implied repressed sexuality – s and insisted the people it portrays very much exist today.
He said that he thinks there are ‘so many’ Burbanks in the world and that it’s important to ‘look under the hood’ of these characters in order to ‘see what their struggle is and why they’re there in the first place’.
Despite Sam’s opinion on the film, Power of the Dog won multiple awards following its release, with Jane clinching the coveted Oscar for best directing.
