'Power of the Dog' star Jesse Plemons says Benedict Cumberbatch's method acting pissed him off when he called him 'big boy'

• Jesse Plemons said Benedict Cumberbatch's "Power of The Dog" method acting "got under [his] skin."
• Plemons recalled the one moment that Cumberbatch really got to him.

Jesse Plemons broke down the one moment during the production of Netflix's "The Power of The Dog" that Benedict Cumberbatch's method acting technique really got to him.

In "The Power of The Dog," which was directed by Kiwi filmmaker Jane Campion, Cumberbatch plays a roughneck ranch handler called Phil Burbank. Throughout the film, Cumberbatch's Burbank brutally teases his brother George Burbank played by Plemons, often calling him "fatso."

"There was one time he got under my skin," Plemons told Variety in a recent interview.

"He was like, 'Hey, big boy.' It wasn't 'fatso.' I feel like a few people in life have been like, 'Hey, big boy,' and I was like, 'Goddamn it. What the fuck.'"

Plemons continued to say that he later told Cumberbatch at a cast dinner that the comment had "pissed me off," at which point Cumberbatch apologized.

"He was like, 'I'm so sorry,'" Plemons said. "I was like, 'No, don't worry. It was great.'"

Cumberbatch — who recently received a Screen Actors Guild Awards nomination for his performance in "The Power of The Dog" — has continually discussed the method acting process he adopted while shooting the Netflix-produced neo-western, which involved distancing himself from the rest of the cast.

During a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Cumberbatch said that he stayed in character for the film's entire 12-week production, which included not washing for up to six days. The actor also told Esquire magazine that he gave himself nicotine poisoning three times during the production of the film due to smoking unfiltered cigarettes like his character smoked on set.

"That was really hard," Cumberbatch said of smoking on set. "Filterless rollies, just take after take after take. I gave myself nicotine poisoning three times. When you have to smoke a lot, it genuinely is horrible."

Speaking with THR, Cumberbatch said that he was asked to adopt method acting by Jane Campion.

"[Jane 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 said.

In a rave review of the film, Insider praised Cumberbatch as the standout performer.

"His performance is commanding and brave: to put it simply, Cumberbatch has never been this good," the review said.

"The Power of The Dog" is available to stream on Netflix.