Dog cast in new ‘Prey’ movie
If you’re a fan of Prey, then you know that the film is full of twists and turns, and it’s not just the humans who are keeping you on your toes. When Hulu’s new sci-fi series Prey came out this month, fans were quick to notice that the main character, Sarii, has a loyal dog companion by her side throughout most of the show.
The dog—played by Coco, an American Dingo—is not just there for comic relief or to provide emotional support: She’s also integral to the plot.
Prey is a film about a girl Naru, who is fighting to protect her tribe against aliens who is after humans on earth. She is a fierce hunter and throughout the movie, also relies on her canine sidekick, Sarii.
According to Midthunder, Coco was specifically adopted for this film without any training! As you can imagine, having a dog on set that is not trained came with some difficulties.
“She was a little bit of a hot mess – but in a sweet way,” Midthuner told Dexerto. “She was not a movie dog, she was literally adopted to be in this movie, and she just happened to be very high-energy.
“She was such a delight to have around, she was so fun and very playful. And then it would be time to do stuff… sometimes she’d do it, sometimes she wouldn’t. But obviously, it all ended up fine, because she was great, and everybody loves her.”
According to the director Dan Trachtenberg, they had always planned on Sarii being in the movie, however, by the end he was surprised to see how much they would include Sarii in the movie.
At Pets on Q, we are no strangers to working with rescued and shelter animals on set and know the difficulties of having a dog, cat, horse or rat that may not like the attention. We have found determining the temperament of that animal is critical to their success on set. Coco was a delight to be around making her a good candidate to be around strange looking camera equipment, lighting and actors.
When selecting the animals, we also look for trainability along with their connection to a handler. At Pets on Q the entire team gets excited when we have the ability to rescue an animal(s) from a shelter or rescue group. It not only gives production a great story and a feel-good vibe on set. It gives that rescue group or shelter exposure to their other animals as well!
We applaud any production who works with rescues and shelters to put their animals on the big screen. The patience it takes the handlers to work with the right animal is also an amazing feat. Congratulations on an amazing movie and story.
