Turns out that not everybody was charmed by Uggie the dog last winter.
The scene-stealing Jack Russell terrier stole hearts in the silent throwback film The Artist, teaming ably with Jean Dujardin and earning plenty of camera flashbulbs as the movie barrelled through awards season. He even earned his own trophies, winning big at the first annual Golden Collar Awards. Yet long-time Hollywood vet Tom Selleck was less than impressed with the performance — and thinks the dog in his Jesse Stone TV cop movies (the most recent of which aired in May on CBS) was snubbed.
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“Yeah, I feel that Reggie, in Jesse Stone, our dog, our golden retriever, played by Joe the dog, a golden retriever, he was playing into type because he is a golden retriever,” Selleck said, “but he’s the only dog I’ve seen — we spend a lot of time studying as actors to develop subtext and what’s going on underneath; Uggie the dog was cute, let’s face it, but he was just cute, and he did those cute doggie things. But I mean, Reggie — Joe, the actor — thinks, and the audience knows what he’s thinking. And I just think he deserved a mention.”
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So, does Hollywood not appreciate nuance and subtext in its animal acting?
“Clearly. It’s usually about cute stuff,” he sighed. “You never see Reggie, in a Jesse Stone movie, doing a cute little whimper, or a happy face, or that imitation dog smile, that they’re really wanting a hot dog off camera, it’s not really a real smile. And I’m not putting down Uggie, because you don’t make fun of dogs, but I just think the degree of difficulty of the role of Reggie in the Jesse Stone movies deserved elevation onto the highest pedestal.”
With Uggie having visited the White House, and planted his paws at Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Selleck has plenty to gripe about. Perhaps this calls for a “Vote Joe” campaign in 2012?
