Benedict Cumberbatch has spoken out against toxic masculinity saying men have to “shut up and listen”.

The Oscar-winning actor, 45, made his comments during an interview with Sky News about latest film, The Power of the Dog.

In the film, which is based on the 1967 novel of the same name by Thomas Savage, Cumberbatch plays a character who appears to project his disgust and anger at his own secret feelings of homosexuality towards another male character who he deems as weak.

“We need to fix the behaviour of men and to understand that, you have to kind of lift the lid on the engine a little bit,” he said.

“I think it’s ever relevant… and in a world that’s questioning and ripping into and finally pointing out the inadequacies of the status quo and the patriarchy, it’s even more important.”

He continued: “You get this sort of rebellion aspect [today], this denial, this sort of childish defensive position of ‘not all men are bad’ and blah blah blah, but no, we just have to shut up and listen.”

“We’re living through an era now where survivors can speak and are having a platform to realise that there is not enough recognition of abuse, there’s not enough recognition of disadvantages.”

The Sherlock star then suggested that “somewhere along the line, maybe not now, but somewhere along the line, we need to do what the film does as well, which is examine the reason behind the oppressive behaviour to fix the men”.