“I scared the dogs”

by

Amy Adams, Scoot McNairy and other cast members of the film Night Troydirected by Marielle Heller (Can you ever forgive me?), hit the red carpet for the world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on Saturday night.

“An overworked stay-at-home mom (Adams) tries to catch a break, any break, while caring for her restless toddler,” the synopsis for the film, based on the 2021 bestselling novel of the same name by author Rachel Yoder, says on TIFF’s website. “Plus, she might turn into a dog.” McNairy plays her husband.

Rounding out the cast are Arleigh Patrick Snowdon, Emmett James Snowdon, Zoë Chao, Mary Holland, Archana Rajan and Jessica Harper.

After the premiere, it was time for a Q&A. “I think we had 12 dogs on set with 12 trainers, all hiding in the bushes. That’s how you work with dogs on set. It’s crazy,” Heller explained. “We spent a long time casting the dogs, casting the dog that was Amy. It’s actually a funny story because we were looking for a ginger husky and we couldn’t find one. And so they ended up adopting Juno, who they found in a shelter in California and trained her for many months before we shot the movie. She was just the most beautiful, incredible dog.”

Heller and Adams also recalled a time when the star put her animal co-stars on edge. “There was a moment on set that I really think back to when people ask me, ‘How crazy was it working with dogs?’” Heller told the audience. “There’s a scene where Amy goes down the stairs toward all the dogs in the yard, and we practiced that with the trainers over and over again.”

However, something changed when the cameras started rolling. “But, obviously, Amy is acting when she does it,” Heller explained. “So she makes this weird look at the dogs and does this, and the dogs got scared and started lunging at her.”

Adams chimed in: “Except one dog. One dog was like, 'That's not good. That's not cool.'”

Heller continued, “He almost ruined the whole shoot. And the handlers were like, 'Oh, they thought he was going to haunt them.' His behavior was too weird and it pissed them off. It was wild.” Adams ended up acknowledging the obvious: “So, yeah, I scared the dogs on set.”

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