Mark Wahlberg
My head is spinning! On Saturday afternoon, I received a phone call from someone connected with the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge (recall that Riley and I competed in that April 2011). She said that there was a movie being shot in Miami, Florida and they needed a greyhound that was already trained on Tuesday. Tuesday!!! That is in THREE days! I said I probably would not be able to make that schedule, but that I was interested and to put my name in the hat.
Dwayne Johnson - "The Rock"
A half an hour later, I get a call from Phil of Trademark Animal Talent. He is freaking out because he was originally told that the greyhounds would all be on leash. No big deal and he rounded up plenty of greyhounds to be on leash for the shoot. When he received the script, he saw that there were several scenes that required off leash work and more training than originally stated. Something that sounds easy to a producer is not necessarily easy in real life and especially not with most greyhounds.
Ed Harris
Phil had first planned to use Cindy, the greyhound that holds the high jump record. She has quite a bit of training and he has used her before. But he found out that she is now 11 years old and her head has turned white with age. More so than he can chalk out. So the hunt for another greyhound began rather late in the game.
Phil explained the requirements to me and Seven sounded perfect for the job. Seven will have to run down a street, has to be carried (hopefully by Mark Wahlberg), and had to run into a kennel building and interact with an actor and show emotion. Seven just happens to be a tail wagger and licker. She will lick anyone within range of her tongue.
"Come closer, I want to taste you."
So we sounded right for the job (Riley will probably be used in the background), but could I possibly swing it on such short notice and possibly return three other times in April and May (12 hour drive one way). Of course, the scheduling is compounded by the fact that I am taking almost two weeks off in April for a rare vacation with the hubby. But it is a once in a lifetime chance to do something like this so I had to go for it.
I spoke to my boss who thankfully has a bucket list of his own and understands jumping at such rare opportunities. I worked many hours over the weekend to get caught up and to get ahead. I think everything will be alright.
The movie is called "Pain and Gain" and stars Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, and Ed Harris (and Seven, of course). It is being produced by Michael Bay who also produced the Transformer movies, Pearl Harbor, and Armageddon. "Pain and Gain" is about "a pair of bodybuilders in Florida that get caught up in an extortion ring and a kidnapping scheme that goes terribly wrong". Sounds like Mark and The Rock will be looking fine.
Wish us luck!
