00:00 "Lift his body. Oh yeah, he's acting like dead weight."
00:04 An unlikely star has emerged this awards season in Messi,
00:07 the dog who plays Snoop in Anatomy of a Fall, which is nominated for five Oscars.
00:11 At the Oscars nominees' lunch, Messi was the toast of the event,
00:16 getting pets from the likes of stars like Ryan Gosling and Billie Eilish.
00:20 "He has a gaze, he has a really a soul in the movie. So maybe it's because of this that people
00:29 could see him like a real actor." "And they do, obviously."
00:36 Messi's performance in one scene in the film in particular, where Snoop nearly dies,
00:41 has blown audiences away. Messi's trainer, Laura, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter through her
00:45 translator about how she prepared her dog for what many have called an award-worthy performance.
00:57 "So it's a really step-by-step process. It just started simply by just laying down and then,
01:03 you know, playing dead. But then also there had to be an action of him being,
01:07 you know, kind of lifted up. And then one day she was out playing ball with him and he came back
01:15 tired and he laid down and his tongue hung out. And that was the kind of spark, like, that's what
01:20 needs to happen to make it look realistic. And then any time they had a chance with the on-set,
01:25 with the young actor, they trained together. And so when it came time to film, they all knew what
01:34 needed to happen." Director Justine Trier also told THR how she brought the scene to life.
01:39 "I think it was one of the most stressful scenes for us to prepare. The boy has to really be
01:48 nervous. So it was very contrasted in a way and so complicated, you know, to keep the dog very calm
01:55 and to have at the same time the boy in this situation. So we did a lot of rehearsal before.
02:03 And yeah, we chose the dog not for his beauty or his appearance, but for his ability to do things.
02:15 And I think it's crazy, but it's the only scene in the movie where all the team was crying at the
02:23 same time because it was too, I don't know. Yeah, I don't know why. The team was really,
02:32 really attached to this dog." "Yeah, same feeling. Yeah, same too. When I saw the film for the first
02:37 time, that was the scene that touched me the most." Laura revealed Messi went through around
02:42 seven auditions before landing the role of Snoop. During our interview,
02:45 she demonstrated how she trained Messi for his big scene.
02:49 "Take the shoulder and after you put the dog...
02:53 Plus, she even let me reenact the scene with him.
03:14 Lie your hand under his shoulder bone. Okay. Like that. Oh, he's got the tongue. He knows to do it.
03:21 You can lift his body. Oh, yeah. He's acting like dead weight."
03:29 No surprise, Messi can do more than just play dead. He also showed us his other best tricks.
03:35 "Bravo. Stand up. That's it. Hide yourself. Hide yourself. Bravo. That's it. Stand up. Stand up. Turn. Yes. Turn. Yes. Back, back, back, back. Don't move.
03:50 Bravo. That's it.
03:55 For more on Messi's award season journey and Anatomy of a Fall, head to THR.com.
04:02 For The Hollywood Reporter, I'm Tiffany Taylor.
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