The film “The Friend” tells a story of two creatures who lose someone they love – and find each other. She’s a writer. He’s a dog.
Actress Naomi Watts gets top billing, but her screen partner – Bing, a Great Dane – is also getting a lot of attention for his performance in the film, which opened nationwide Friday.
Bing is a star thanks to a Connecticut-based animal trainer, Bill Berloni. For decades, Berloni has tracked down dogs and other animals and trains them humanely to perform in film, TV and theatre.
Berloni spotted Bing in Iowa. He and Bing’s owner worked together to transform the Great Dane into a canine actor for his on-screen debut.
“We were looking for a dog that had been trained humanely,” Berloni said. “One who would listen, who was friendly with strangers and one who liked treats!”
Bing was a natural. The filmmakers call him “the Clark Gable of dogs.”
Bing appeared with Watts at a recent press event in New York City. He laid sprawled out on the floor.
Watts describes her charismatic co-star as “sensitive and responsive.”
“This dog knows when a human is having feelings,” Watts said. “When I started to cry on him, he’s suddenly, ‘What can I do to fix this?’ Or ‘Something’s wrong.’”
'Have to find the right dog'
“The Friend” is based on the novel by Sigrid Nunez. The book’s cover features a Harlequin Great Dane, a distinctive dog covered in white with black spots.
The filmmakers wanted that dog for this film.
They turned to Berloni. But he had some concerns.
“When I read the script, I called the filmmakers back and said, ‘You can’t make this movie the way you’ve written it,’” Berloni said.
Berloni is the only animal handler who’s ever won a Tony Award. And he knew the breed could be tricky to work with.
“Great Danes are very sensitive,” Berloni explains. “And then, you know, we’d have to find the right dog.
“And you’d have to build the film around the right dog.”
The filmmakers were adamant.
The dog had to be a visibly male Great Dane who could appear soulful and expressive, but also funny.
Berloni’s nationwide search was on.
A Great Dane that's truly great
He contacted hundreds of breeders. He pored through headshots and traveled across the country for tryouts.
Finally, he rolled into Iowa, where he spotted Bing.
This gentle giant had it all. Regal bearing. Mournful expression. Testicles intact. And humanely trained. He even knows how to sing on cue.
“I turned to the filmmakers and said, ‘If you don’t hire this dog, I’m going to hire him and take him to New York,’” Berloni said.
In “The Friend,” Bing plays the role of the Great Dane Apollo. Watts plays Iris, a writer and teacher who is grieving. Her closest friend and mentor, played by Bill Murray, has suddenly died and bequeathed his beloved dog to her. Iris lives alone in a tiny apartment in New York City that won’t allow animals. And it’s not like she can hide Apollo – he’s about the size of a small pony.
Berloni wanted the dog’s connection with the actress to be real. When he works on Broadway, Berloni teaches performers to become animal handlers.
Stage dogs don’t act, he says. They live. In real time.
Their attention should be on stage and not on a trainer in the wings, he says. But movies are different. Dog actors often meet human actors right on set, with trainers hidden off-camera.
Berloni asked if they could approach “The Friend” like a piece of theater. Watts agreed.
“I needed to start on a training path,” Watts said. “And I’m a dog person. I’m not squeamish. Slobber all over me! You know, like, whatever.”
Experiencing grief with a dog
Still, it was complicated.
“Because he’s twice my size, nearly,” she said. “He weighs 150 pounds. He’s incredibly strong.”
Watts and Bing spent several weeks getting to know each other. And once cameras started rolling, they got gold.
“There was something really beautiful about experiencing grief with another species,” Watts said. “It was very healing.”
Near the end of “The Friend,” audiences hear Iris thinking about what her dog was like before she met him.
Iris tells Apollo: “Not to have known you as a frisky young dog, to have missed your entire puppyhood, I don’t feel just sad. I feel cheated.”
But audiences won’t. “The Friend” has opened to glowing reviews.
