It is more than 80 years since Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn struggled with a leopard in Bringing Up Baby, and with a CGI Lion King due for release in July, you might think that the days of live animals in films were over. But not so. Many directors still prefer the texture of professionally trained creatures, even if they’re not centre stage. In fact, once you start looking closely, you notice animals everywhere on screen: the fish tank in the background, the horses carrying a cavalry, the rats scurrying up an alleyway. From woodlice to lions, each creature has a unique skillset and personality (yes, really!). Here, expert trainers explain how to pick the right millepede for the job, and what motivates a cobra.
It takes two months to ‘decouple’ from a lion
You can train a lion like a dog, as it wants love, while tigers are solitary and more like cats, motivated only by food. It takes months to train with a lion as you’re basically becoming part of its family. I spent six months training Shaka the lion for James Franco’s war film Flyboys; anything less is dangerous, as it’s a gradual process. At the end, I spent another two months to “decouple” from him, and bond him with someone else. You can’t just cut a lion off when he’s bonded; he won’t eat or sleep. When people say: “I need a lion trained up in the next few weeks,” I always say: “No, because I don’t want to die.” It’s not something to take on lightly.
Chris Brown, Tooth n Claw
Nancy the cockroach bowled the production team over!
I always give cockroaches a name as it helps to stop people freaking out. Nancy has really changed people’s minds about the species because she is so brilliant. She did some reshoots on a film for me recently: they had scheduled three hours as the shots were quite tricky, such as walking in straight lines across the middle of the room (which is very much against a cockroach’s natural instincts). But after one practice run, she was perfect. The production team were bowled over by her accuracy! We got all the shots and more in less than an hour.
Grace Dickinson, Reptiles Etc
The rat’s spacesuit had to be redesigned to let him poo
For some animals, waiting on a mark is the hardest thing they can do as they want to explore or hide. For the sci-fi film Life, with Jake Gyllenhaal, Fidget the rat had to wear a specially made spacesuit. I helped the costume department to design it as the original didn’t allow him to poo and rats poo almost constantly. I reward most rats with cuddles; they have pressure points behind their ears that help them to bliss out. Fidget maintained a wait on the spot for 20 minutes, with a noisy scene going on behind him. I was overwhelmed by how well he did. People assume we must want the most highly intelligent animal available. But mostly I just want a basic rat who is happy. Smart ones are great for difficult tasks, but can be unpredictable – and are usually female. GD
Sydney the tabby cat has been in the arms of many A-listers
Sydney is my go-to cat; she has been in the arms of many A-listers, and was serenaded by Ed Sheeran during the music video for Drunk. She was Judi Dench’s cat in Skyfall, and she had several scenes in Bohemian Rhapsody, including a memorable one with Rami Malek, where she’s on his lap at breakfast trying to steal salmon off his plate. People think you can’t train cats, so they’re always pleasantly surprised. We have had cats running across zebra crossings with waiting traffic, and I once walked a cat over the Millennium Bridge at rush hour, which was stressful.
Charlotte Wilde, Charlotte Wilde Film and TV
It is high stakes for a millipede on film – one small drop and they die
I recently taught John Malkovich to handle millipedes like a pro. It is high stakes: if they’re dropped, a fall of a foot can kill them. So I am always hidden nearby to catch them if necessary. On one recent – confidential – project, it was really nice that the millipede was actually part of the story for a change, rather than just set dressing. They do have different personalities: some don’t want to uncurl, while others are brave and want to explore. GD
Fish are very prone to stress; that’s why you need a licence
I have never had so many fish jobs as I did last year. Nerdy, Bob, Blackfin, Shortfin and Betty are the names of five goldfish starring in the new Men in Black film; they look good and are outgoing, so they don’t hide away behind weeds. I also have them target-trained; they will move on command to follow my finger. Fish are very prone to stress, which is one of the reasons you must hold a licence to provide and work with animals on film, even if they’re just swimming in a tank in the background. You can’t just go to a shop, buy them and start the cameras rolling. GD
Battersea Dogs Home calls us if it has a dog we could train
Gizmo the dog played Frou Frou in Beauty and the Beast and was actually a rescue dog from Battersea. They will often give me a call if they think they’ve got a dog who’s the right personality to train: bold, outgoing and not too noise-sensitive. Gizmo needed to be steady during thunder and lightning, and I had to train him to do what we call “taking a hike”, which means cocking his leg – in this case, against a footstool. All dogs can be trained in the basics, but beyond that it is down to intelligence and work ethic. Gizmo has both.
Gill Raddings, Stunt Dogs & Animals
Michael Fassbender had a scene where he killed a dog. He was keen to do as much as possible himself
In the film Trespass Against Us, Michael Fassbender had a scene in which he has to kill a dog. He was keen to do as much as possible himself, so we met up several times. It’s all about building up gradually. Anti the German Shepherd had to chase and attack him, then they had to wrestle to the ground, before Michael’s character breaks her neck and covers her with a coat. We had to make sure she was comfortable being covered with a coat, so we got her used to having very light things draped over her ribcage, then moved them higher. She’s a bold, solid dog so we knew she could do it. She is now in After Life, the TV show with Ricky Gervais. GR
It turns out that woodlice love pizza!
I have just had to do a scene in a film coming out later this year that involved woodlice swarming over a pizza box. They asked for earwigs, but earwigs won’t infest in that way, it’s not in their nature. We compromised with 2,000 tropical grey woodlice who, it turns out, love pizza. We couldn’t get them off. GD
With goats, you need to be careful they don’t eat the set
I supplied a small herd of goats for Wonder Woman. The director didn’t mind about the breed, but people tend to like goats with horns for any period dramas, as they were never dehorned back in the day. With goats, you need to be careful they don’t eat the set, so we take plenty of food to distract them. They aren’t house trained, so we also clean up afterwards. GR
One of the pigs ran off to eat a runner’s sandwich
Neil, Colin and Julian are three Tamworth pigs we filmed in a forest recently. It was a challenge, as everything in a wood is a food source, but they behaved well until, one day, Neil ran off. Annoyingly, a runner had chucked the remains of his previous day’s sandwiches on the ground, so we could never work with him in that forest again. Neil would keep on returning to the same spot – pigs are smart. CB
Cobras will strike all day long, so you have to rest them
Cobras are the least endearing creatures you will ever come across, but it’s this unpredictability that also makes them good on film. They are very naturally aggressive and will strike all day long, so you have to rest them regularly in case they tire themselves out. CB
Whenever Missy hears a rustle, she thinks it’s food
Missy the Maine coon [cat] is stunning, but she has attitude. I trained her to rip open some treats for a commercial, and now if she ever hears a rustle on set she thinks it’s food. She’s just done a scene for a film in which she had to lick blood – butter, really – off some paper, and in the next scene an actor came in rustling a bag. I was worried she’d leap on him, but she stayed put. CW
There is no such thing as a tame crocodile
We used two crocodiles, Snap and Teeth, in a scene for the family film Stranded, in which three children are swimming in a swamp, and the crocs are released to “hunt” them. We used a locked-off area and made a net tunnel so they would follow the correct path. No actors ever got into the water with them and trainers were used for closeup shots. They are much easier on land. In the water, they change and their brains go into hunt mode. There’s no such thing as a tame crocodile. CB
