It is currently the season for the Oscars in Hollywood and I was assigned to go to the Four Seasons hotel in Beverly Hills for an interview with one of this year’s rising stars.
As soon as I walked into the lobby, I spotted him right away: his untamed black and white hair, his unique, unsettling blue eyes. He had a leash on and a female admirer had her arms around him. A group of people were taking pictures.
Similar to Tom Cruise, Messi, the furry star of Anatomy of a Fall, may appear smaller in person, but possesses an undeniable charisma. The French film, which marked Messi’s breakthrough role, received five Oscar nominations, including nods for best actress, best director, and best picture. Messi’s portrayal as a guide dog for a blind child left audiences in awe and quickly elevated the seven-year-old border collie to fame in the canine world.
Messi, a famous dog trained by Laura Martin Contini, received the Palm Dog award at Cannes last year. Contini described it as the ultimate recognition in the field of cinema dog training. As a result, there are now calls from Messi’s fans for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to create a Pawscar award.
The movie features Sandra Hüller as a writer who is accused of killing her husband when he falls from a window at their remote mountain chalet. The key testimonies in the trial come from the couple’s 11-year-old son, Daniel, and his guide dog, Snoop, who shows an unusual understanding of the events. The peak of the film is a moment when Snoop is poisoned and nearly dies – a truly convincing performance that stunned viewers with the animal’s talent for acting.
“I have just witnessed the most exceptional display of acting in my life, and it was not by Sandra Hüller or a child actor…it was by a dog,” stated actor Ayo Edebiri on her well-known Letterboxd profile.
As the deadline for Oscar voting approached, Messi traveled by business class from his residence in France to Hollywood to support the best picture campaign for Anatomy of a Fall. The journey was successful, with Messi being acknowledged at the airport and becoming the surprise center of attention at a high-profile luncheon for Oscar nominees, where he was seen interacting with celebrities such as Bradley Cooper and Billie Eilish. His appearance was even featured in People magazine, and best actress nominee Emma Stone praised his acting talent.
At lunch, Martin Contini had chosen to demonstrate Messi’s top move: pretending to be dead. Ryan Gosling, who was dining nearby, quickly came to assist, thinking there was an issue with the dog. Footage of the incident reveals the Barbie actor appearing unsettled, until Messi springs back to life unharmed. Didn’t Gosling realize he was a performer?
Two days after that, Messi had a busy day of answering questions from the press – a total of eight or ten interviews, some with reporters who had never talked to a dog before.
Becoming Messi
To achieve success as a dog actor in the film industry, being a well-connected puppy can be advantageous. In recent years, recipients of the prestigious Palm Dog awards at Cannes have been dogs belonging to Tilda Swinton (2021) and Quentin Tarantino (2019).
However, Messi’s journey was not like that. He was adopted as a puppy by Martin Contini, a professional dog trainer residing outside Paris, from a neighbor. According to Contini, the neighbor was taken aback when she chose “the least attractive puppy of the litter”. But there was something special about him, she recalled, calling him “un chien de cinéma” or “a true movie dog”. Her kids decided to name him Messi, after the famous soccer player.
According to Martin Contini, Messi was the initial canine she trained for the film industry and their abilities have grown in sync. Training a dog for on-screen performances is a gradual process that demands patience and trust. Contini stated that Messi first learned the basics like sitting, staying, and lying down, with the help of a translator since both her and Messi are fluent in French.
Afterwards, she mentioned that trainers will gradually introduce tools such as cameras and boom mics to help dogs become accustomed to paying them no attention. The next stage of training involves familiarizing the dog with noise and chaos. No matter what may be happening around the dog, the main objective is to remain focused on the trainer.
Maintaining a strong connection on a movie set can be difficult due to the constant distractions. The dog’s trainer often has to give commands from a distance of 10ft. When it comes to training other dogs, her tip is straightforward – use treats as motivation.
Martin Contini has transformed training into her own unique form of art. With a stylish blonde bob and effortless charm, she dressed for Messi’s important PR event in a chic jumpsuit, a frilly blouse, and Converse sneakers. During their scheduled breaks, she would put on a denim chore jacket, giving her a distinctly French appearance.
Despite his talent and cleverness, Messi faced challenges in establishing himself in the industry. There was something about his appearance that did not connect with others. Martin Contini accompanied Messi to numerous auditions, but even though he consistently made it to the final round, he was never chosen. “He was like a misunderstood artist,” she explained.
Martin Contini and Messi auditioned in person “seven or eight” times to secure their roles in Anatomy of a Fall. This included a chemistry test with Milo Machado-Graner, who plays the character of Daniel.
After being chosen for the role of Snoop, Messi underwent two months of specialized training with Martin Contini. In order to perfect his pivotal poisoning scene, Contini began with the fundamentals of “lying down” and “playing dead”, and gradually built upon those skills by teaching him how to remain unresponsive when being lifted up.
After a game of ball, Messi was exhausted and his tongue was sticking out. “That would be a great addition to the scene,” she thought. “It seems like he was taught to stick out his tongue without reacting.”
Messi dedicated a significant amount of time to practicing alongside the human actors in order to establish a strong connection that would truly portray him as the family’s beloved dog.
During the last scene of the movie, Messi was instructed to jump onto the bed and lay down next to Muller, with Triet envisioning Snoop as the embodiment of the deceased husband reuniting with his wife. According to Martin Contini, this was a difficult task to achieve as they had to figure out how to portray the dog as the spirit of Samuel.
She explained that she wanted to create an environment where Messi could showcase his talent freely. She carefully trained Messi for the physical demands of the last scene, but during filming, she stayed out of sight so that Messi could fully focus on his character and have a genuine experience with his co-star, Sandra.
She stated that the intimate moment originated from that.
Staying humble
A couple of hours prior to my planned meeting with Messi, I had searched for “tips for interviewing a canine” on Google. However, there was not much guidance available. One radio journalist advised against allowing the dog to think that your recording equipment is a plaything. I also came across multiple videos of dogs playing with or gnawing on microphones.
I was not the only person who felt nervous. According to Maggie Bie-Grace, one of Messi’s PR representatives, she had been receiving numerous emails from journalists prior to his press day inquiring, “This may sound silly, but… should I acknowledge the dog?”
We needn’t have been concerned: Messi gained fame later in his life, and he was a professional.
At a live press event with Jenelle Riley, an editor from Variety, Messi entered the room and gently sniffed his interviewer before resting his head on her knee. He was then given a cookie in the shape of his face, which he proceeded to lick.
Riley shared that although she had conducted interviews with Angelina Jolie and Leonardo DiCaprio, her encounter with Messi left her in awe. As she petted him on and off, Messi appeared uninterested and lounged on the ground. In between, he would lick his paws while Riley inquired about his professional journey and how he spent his day off in LA. According to his trainer, Messi visited Venice Beach and enjoyed running on the sand and playing with other dogs, recreating his own version of Baywatch.
What’s next for Messi? He will be on a French TV show, where he will act out his death on camera as it has become his speciality.
When I inquired about which human actor Messi was most similar to, Martin Contini only seemed unsure. She explained through the translator that his personality is naturally patient, lively, and extremely intelligent, so perhaps Brad Pitt would be a suitable comparison.
I was not convinced that Brad Pitt was a suitable match for the role: it was clear to me that he resembled more of a golden retriever. When discussing which actor Messi brought to mind, my friends mentioned Elijah Wood due to their bright blue eyes, or Paul Rudd for their youthful appearance. However, I personally saw him as the canine equivalent of Jake Gyllenhaal, despite not being able to explain why.
Someone compared Messi to Julia Fox due to their similar energy and talent in arthouse films.
Did Messi come to the realization of his celebrity status after spending a week in Hollywood? No, according to his trainer. “He remains completely oblivious to his fame.”
Source: theguardian.com
