Jane Campion, director of the Academy Award-nominated "Power of the Dog," has responded to comments made by actor Sam Elliott about the film.
Elliott recently made disparaging comments while on Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast about "Power of the Dog," a Western about a newly married rancher, saying that the director from New Zealand, where the movie was made, had no business making a movie in the genre.
Campion hit back at Elliott’s comments while speaking with Variety ahead of the DGA Awards on Saturday.
Campion responded to Elliott by spelling out a word she felt suited his behavior.
"He was being a little bit of a b----," she said, spelling out the final word.
Elliott also made comments that some have deemed homophobic about the characters in the film.
"They’re all running around in chaps and no shirts. There’s all these allusions to homosexuality throughout" the film, he said.
Campion also reminded listeners that Elliott is “not a cowboy” but is just “an actor.”
“The West is a mythic space and there’s a lot of room on the range. I think it’s a little bit sexist,” she said.
While Campion said she thinks of herself as a creator, she believes Elliott likely sees her gender first.
"I think he thinks of me as a woman or something lesser first, and I don’t appreciate that," she said.
She also cited directors who made Westerns in other countries, like Sergio Leone making westerns in Spain.
