Director Josh Greenbaum is breaking one of Hollywood’s most famous rules: Never work with animals.
(Reggie’s goal?
To find the cruel Doug and bite off a certain, um, R-rated appendage.)
‘Strays’ director Josh Greenbaum with his canine cast.Universal Studios
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I heard you actually adopted one of the dogs who played young Reggie.
JOSH GREENBAUM:It is!
I thought about it, and I called my wife.
Reggie (Will Ferrell), Maggie (Isla Fisher), Hunter (Randall Park), and Bug (Jamie Foxx) in ‘Strays’.Universal Studios
Of course, they started screaming, and they’ve since named him Reggie.
So yeah, I have Will Ferrell living with me in my house.
If I come home one day and see him watchingStrays,I will be very alarmed.
Reggie (voiced by Will Ferrell) in ‘Strays’.Universal Studios
How was it working with a primarily canine cast?
Who was the biggest diva on set?
No hesitation: It was Bennie, who plays Bug.
Bug is this badass with Jamie Foxx’s voice, who doesn’t give a s—.
We had to hide this little heating pad that he could put his dainty paws on.
Was there a particular trope you wanted to subvert or have fun with?
We definitely got the ones that I knew we wanted.
One of my favorites is the narrator dog.
Of course, he’s such a funny guy, and he immediately got it.
So, that was a great bit that I remember loving.
Giving a voice to that felt very fun particularly an R-rated voice.
What was the filming process like?
Did you film the dogs first and then bring in the actors to record lines?
And then, we went and shot.
It was a very weird set.
you could’t ask these dogs, “Where would you want to say your line?
When do you think you want to stand up and walk?”
So, I would take stuffed animals.
Then, we’d meet with the trainers about what behaviors we needed.
Then, we would film.
It wasn’t until after that we started recording with Will, Jamie, Isla, and Randall.
And that obviously brought the film to life.
I hadn’t thought about that.
you might’t really rehearse with dog actors.
They showed me how they can train, like, seven different types of walks.
Am I going slowly?
Am I looking around?
I tried to lean on those naturalistic behaviors.
It goes all the way back toBabe,which is a film I love.
Even with an outlandish premise, you want to root it in reality.
We also all live with dogs, so we know their behaviors.
I was thinking about CG and the amazing work done onThe Lion Kingor films like that.
I can see a CG elephant and think, “Hey, that seems pretty good!”
[Laughs] But we really know dogs.
We know their behaviors and their movements.
That’s part of why I wanted to ensure it felt very real.
There’s one absolutely absurd scene where the four dogs hump lawn ornaments.
How did you approach that?
I mean, there’s multiple humping scenes.
We’re really doing this, everyone."
But that was another behavior where I said to the trainers, “Is this trainable?”
They said yes, and they figured out their different techniques of how to do it.
At one point, it was 4 in the morning in Atlanta, with a lot of night shoots.
Those are the moments where you realize what you’re doing, and it seems so absurd.
[Laughs]
But I also think the trainers were very excited.
[Laughs] Kudos to Sophie for being able to play the opposite sex.
It makes her performance all the more impressive.
But there are a couple scenes where Will Forte lifts her up.
[Laughs] You know, those very real conversations.
Did the actors record together, or were they mostly separate?
No, that was my whole thing: I kind of gently pushed-slash-insisted that they [record together].
Luckily, everybody was game (as seen in the exclusive preview above).
It would be foolish not to.
We would show them clips at times, as well.
I’m not scared!
Ah, what is that!?"
And Jamie, of course, improvised that whole bit, like, “Ah!
F— you, leaf!”
Was there a particular scene or stunt that you were most proud of?
That’s the film.
But the whole pound sequence was very scary because there’s 40 dogs in that sequence.
I wanted wide shots, too.
There’s also a big climactic scene where Hunter knocks the door down.
He was the least-trained of all the dogs.
But the dog playing Hunter, Dalin, was having a lot of trouble just sitting or staying.
He would get the zoomies, which is when dogs just get excited and start running around.
What am I thinking?"
But sure enough, full credit to the whole training team.
Not only did Dalin get so much better through the shoot, but helovedto knock the door down.
He was amazing at it.
So, he went from amateur actor to total professional.
Now, I’d hire him in a heartbeat!
Strayshits theaters August 18.
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