They Act Like Beasts and Get Paid for It

Actors are cattle.

--Alfred Hitchcock

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Luke is everything a photographer or casting director could ask for in a male model: tall, dark, handsome and seldom urinates indoors. The consummate professional, Luke has a stoic nature, endless patience and is as strong as an ox. In fact, Luke is an ox. Furthermore, Luke is one of a growing menagerie making it in Hollywood as an MAW (model-actor-whatever) and doing quite well, thank you. When not working in commercials, TV shows or feature films, he high-tails it up to his ranch in Simi Valley for some well deserved R&R.;

Naturally, there are perks. Luke, for instance, has a brother-companion called Bell who travels with him everywhere. Both are happiest when they are within eye contact of each other. And so, those who book Luke know that Bell will usually be along for the ride, bringing home the point that today’s aging action stars aren’t the only muscleboys in Hollywood with co-dependent bovine entourages.

“Sled Reynolds, who owns our company, has been training Luke since Day One. Luke is so good because he has been working all his life and he works all the time,” explains Eadie McMullan of Gentle Jungle, Luke’s owner and manager. “People don’t mind that we bring Bell along because he’s there as the stand-in. Besides, as the only Brahma bulls in the business, they’ve cornered the market.”

One glance at magazines, television or movies makes it clear that animals are the hottest thing going in the ad and entertainment biz right now. While Luke and his brethren are unlikely to be waiting tables any time soon, industry parallels between animal actors and their human counterparts are striking.

Says commercial photographer Pete McArthur, who has shot everything from Luke to goldfish, lizards, monkeys, chickens and a horse in a dress: “Modeling for print work is all well and good, but the real money for animals is in television and movies. That’s where everyone wants to be.”

Dinky, the Taco Bell Chihuahua, has already made 17 commercial spots in one of the most popular ad campaigns of all time, with more to come. In “There’s Something About Mary,” the terrier Puffy proved a mighty foil for a beleaguered Ben Stiller. The movie “Babe” and its upcoming sequel kept plenty of pigs on the payroll. And what dog in his right mind wouldn’t love to have a regular stint as Eddie on “Frasier”?

But before you start counting the cash your little Snowball will generate as commercial spokeskitten, be aware that this is a business and a serious one at that. As in the human arena--in which image equals cash flow--looks, training, management, industry connections and, yes, occasionally even talent come into play.

Essentially, most performing fauna fall into three major categories. Domestics: dogs and cats. Farm animals and livestock: everything from rabbits to cattle to horses. Exotics: wild animals such as primates, bears and the big cats. But there are also smaller specialties for esoteric species of birds, reptiles, fish, rodents and even insects. No matter what kind of creature it is, if it breathes, somebody out there loves it and has trained it to work on-camera. This isn’t just restricted to the photogenic mammals, mind you, even snakes and snails have agencies to serve them.

On-set animal handlers are either trainers or wranglers. These names are a bit ambiguous; everyone has a slightly different definition of who does what (and on which animals), and it’s sometimes more about money than anything (union minimum for a trainer is $30.72 an hour versus wranglers, who make a little more than $22). Basically, a trainer has a one-on-one relationship with an animal, usually a more expensive and intelligent one, and works on specific tasks and behaviors, whereas the wrangler supervises an animal or animals and gets them from Point A to Point B.

For a less developed animal like, say, a trout, star quality isn’t much of an issue. In featured roles, however, character, cuteness and beauty certainly play a part, but there’s always more to it than just that.

Rob Bloch, owner and head trainer for Critters of the Cinema, one of the top sources for dogs and cats for commercials, says: “Animals don’t emote, so the hardest thing to do is to get the animal to look like it’s experiencing a feeling. Without question, 80% of what you see on screen is the work of the trainer. But rarely, and I’m talking two or three times in a lifetime, you encounter a dog that has that special something. It goes way beyond just being well-trained. It’s definitely right up there, maybe you could call it star quality.”

Phil Smith, owner of Phil’s Livestock, one of the premier purveyors of farm animals as well as wagon, coach and equipment rentals to the industry, sees it as a matter of professionalism.

“What makes an animal good on a shoot is temperament,” he explains. “They have to put up with a variety of different situations. They have to stay quiet. They have to have the patience to do something over and over.”

Smith’s attitude toward casting is pragmatic.

“Take chickens, for example,” he says. “Certain breeds are better to work with and more controllable. Your Rhode Islands Reds and Plymouth Rocks are heavier and gentler. Leghorns? Forget it, they’re too flighty.”

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While many are concerned that young girls in pursuit of modeling and acting careers are paraded in front of the camera like animals, there is equal queasiness when animals are thrust in front of the camera like humans. But today, for the most part (unlike 30 years ago), animals are treated with enormous care and respect on-set, in the studio, while training and where they live. The American Humane Assn., which monitors the treatment of animals in film and television production, has set up extremely detailed and comprehensive guidelines to which every legitimate production company voluntarily adheres.

The association’s scope encompasses every creature great and small. Housefly, gutter rat, newt and cockroach are protected from harm. (This means mayfly wranglers must be the most nervous people in the business since that insect’s life span is about 24 hours.)

Actor lore has it that performers should avoid working with children and animals at all costs because they will inevitably steal the show. Indeed, since animals frequently are the show now, this can certainly be tough on their human co-stars with fragile thespian egos.

New York commercial actor-turned-illustrator Arthur Howard recalls, “I knew my days were numbered when I was cast in an air freshener commercial as this nerdy guy with a lot of dogs. I arrived at the shoot, and I realized that the dogs all had better credits than I did.”