Sporting a dashing black bow tie, Uggie made his red carpet debut for “The Artist,” in which he stars alongside French actor Jean Dujardin.
Uggie stars in “The Artist” alongside French actor Jean Dujardin. (
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Meryl. Leo. George. With awards season heating up, the usual names are being tossed about as Oscar contenders, but there’s a new one being praised: Uggie. The scene-stealing sidekick in “The Artist,” the silent French film that was named the best picture of 2011 by the New York Film Critics Circle earlier this week, is the breakout star of the season and generating chatter about his own Oscar chances. There’s just one problem: He’s not eligible. Uggie is a 9-year-old Jack Russell terrier, and the Academy doesn’t consider canine performances.
The exclusionary edict goes back to the first year of the awards, when Rin Tin Tin received the most votes for Best Actor, much to the Oscars voters’ dismay.
He gives “the best performance, human or animal, in any film I’ve seen this year,” says Post film critic Lou Lumenick, who tried unsuccessfully to convince the New York Film Critics Circle to give Uggie a special award.
Meanwhile, at Movieline, editor S.T. VanAirsdale has launched a “Consider Uggie” campaign, complete with an activist Facebook page, demanding that this “discriminatory trend” cease and the dog be recognized. “Uggie inhabits a character and emotional range as evocative as any of his human co-stars,” he says, noting that the pup “handily outperforms Leo [DiCaprio]” in “J. Edgar,” though might not measure up to Clooney’s work in “The Descendants.”
Of course, like any talent that’s supposedly “breaking through,” Uggie has been quietly, steadily working in the industry for years. His first movie role was a small part in 2006’s “Mr. Fix It,” alongside David Boreanaz. Countless commercials — some featuring Uggie skateboarding, a favorite pastime — and roles in Disney’s “Life Is Ruff” and, most recently, “Water For Elephants” followed.
But, it wasn’t until his turn in “The Artist,” playing a spirited companion to a Hollywood film star fallen from grace (Jean Dujardin), that Uggie got the attention he deserves.
The rakishly handsome, tan and white terrier didn’t always lead such a glamourous life. He was on his way to the pound, having been too energetic for his original owners, when seasoned dog trainer Omar Von Muller stepped in. He intended to simply foster the dog and find him a home, but quickly succumbed to his charms.
Today, Uggie shares a three-bedroom house in North Hollywood with Von Muller, the trainer’s wife and 6-year-old daughter, a cat and seven other dogs — all of whom work in the industry.
Despite his terrier’s newfound fame, Von Muller insists that Uggie is just a regular dog that eats regular dog food — and hot dogs, chicken and dried liver for training purposes. “He sleeps a lot and snores like crazy,” he says.
When he’s working, though, Uggie is no average mutt. To develop such a rapport with his co-star, Uggie spent three days with his trainers and Dujardin at a house in the Hollywood Hills. The human star was taught how to give Uggie verbal and hand cues to signal him within a scene. The most important cue for Uggie’s work in “The Artist” was “go with,” which commands him to follow a fellow actor wherever he goes. “Just like Toto,” says Sarah Clifford, an animal trainer who helped on the set.
While Dujardin was unavailable for comment — like Uggie, the star has been swept up in a whirlwind — veteran actor James Cromwell, who plays Dujardin’s chauffeur, praises his fellow actor for being “wonderfully trained and talented,” and says he’d like to see a special Oscar recognizing the achievements of animals.
Uggie’s director Michel Hazanavicius, however, isn’t so sure such recognition would be good for the dog, however. “I’m afraid he could become a little bit megalomaniac,” he jokes. “You know how actors are.”