The old saying in Hollywood is that you shouldn’t star onscreen with animals or children. Keanu Reeves ignored that advice and spent his time on the set of John Wick with an 8-week-old beagle named Andy.
For Kim Krafsky, a trainer with Animal Actors International, she was in charge with casting the little pup. The search took two weeks and she explained the criteria for his casting.
Krafsky shared, “The dog had to be outgoing, enjoy being around people and, of course, be beautiful. All of those things have to be wrapped up in to one animal.”
It’s not easy to train a puppy though. She explained the extra care, “With puppies, it requires more time and insight to acquire the proper on-screen behavior because they’re so young. It takes patience, positive reinforcement and a lot of treats.”
The hard aspect of the film is that Andy’s character, Daisy, is killed by Russian mobsters. Even though it was the character who gets killed, it still was a tough day on set.
“The whole time you’re thinking, ‘Oh my God, how sad,'” she said. The actor playing the pup’s killer, Omer Barnea, had a hard time, too. He felt horrible. Every time the director yelled cut, he just picked up the dog and cuddled him.”
As for Andy, he is enjoying his dog days off-set and he doesn’t have any work pending. However, he does like the attention.
Krafsky summed up, “He loves getting the red-carpet treatment. His diva side is starting to come out.”
Via New York Post
