The cast of the movie Nightbitch, including Amy Adams, Scoot McNairy, and others, walked the red carpet at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) for the film’s world premiere on Saturday night.
The movie, directed by Marielle Heller, is based on the bestselling 2021 novel of the same name by Rachel Yoder.
The story follows an overworked stay-at-home mom, played by Adams, who tries to catch a break while caring for her rambunctious toddler and might be turning into a dog. McNairy plays her husband.
After the premiere, the cast participated in a Q&A session, where Heller shared behind-the-scenes stories about working with dogs on set.
“We had, I think, 12 dogs on set with 12 trainers all hiding in bushes. That’s how you work with dogs on set. It’s crazy,” Heller explained.
She also shared the heartwarming story of how they found the lead dog, Juno, in a shelter in California and trained her for months before filming.
Heller and Adams also recalled a memorable moment on set when Adams’ unconventional behaviour threw off her animal co-stars.
“There was one moment on set that I really think back on when people ask me, ‘How crazy was it to work with dogs?'” Heller said.
“There’s a scene where Amy walks down the steps to all the dogs in the yard, and we had practised with the trainers over and over again.”
However, when the cameras rolled, Adams’ acting caused the dogs to freak out. “But, of course, Amy’s acting when she does it,” Heller explained.
“So she’s doing this weird looking at the dogs and going like this, and the dogs freaked out and started lunging at her.”
Adams interjected, “Except one dog. One dog was like, ‘That’s not okay. That’s not cool.'”
Heller continued, “It almost ruined the whole shoot. And the trainers were like, ‘Oh, they thought she would be stalking them.’ Her behaviour was too odd, and it flipped them. It was wild.”
Adams acknowledged, “So, yeah, I freaked the dogs out on the set.”
