Nightbitch, the forthcoming film from writer-director (and occasional actress) Marielle Heller (The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Can You Ever Forgive Me, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), stars Amy Adams as a suburban mom who -- due to the pressures of motherhood -- believes she is turning into a dog. This meant that Heller had to find just the right canine performer to act as Adams's dog double. The search, as it turns out, was a long and tireless one, according to Vulture.
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At the November 21 Los Angeles premiere of Nightbitch, Heller explained that she, "spent a long time just looking at pictures of Amy and pictures of dogs" to find the perfect match. She eventually landed on a red husky because of the ginger in its fur, which matched Adams's hair.
It Takes A Particular Kind Of Dog To Be A Good 'Nightbitch'
Finding a pooch of this particular breed that could also act on-camera proved far more difficult than Heller initially anticipated. "They were like, 'That is not a dog that is in the database because those dogs are not easily trainable,'" she stated. "'They're not dogs we use for movies.'"
However, the trainers eventually landed on a red husky named Juno they found in a shelter and trained specifically for Nightbitch. It was a match made in doggy heaven, according to Heller, despite the fact Juno didn't share any screen time with other pups because she "didn't really like to share the spotlight."
✕ Remove Ads Related Nightbitch Review: Amy Adams Straddles Nature and Nurture [TIFF 2024]
Marielle Heller's adaptation of Rachel Yoder's best-selling novel explains the difficulties of being a mom with style but fails to follow through.
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Another minor problem, Heller shared: "Our only issue with Juno was that she ran so fast we had to build faster rigs in order to keep up with her because you can't tell a dog to slow down... It's weird."
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Nightbitch made its debut at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival in September. The film has been in production since 2022, and was originally slated to release as a Hulu original, but was later upgraded to a theatrical release via Searchlight Pictures. In addition to Adams in the lead role, Nightbitch also stars Scoot McNairy, Zoë Chao, and original Suspiria actress Jessica Harper, among others. It is an adaptation of the 2021 novel of the same name by Rachel Yoder.
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When the project was first announced, Heller stated:
Rachel Yoder's book took my breath away... I haven't felt this way about a book since I read ' The Diary of a Teenage Girl' many years ago. Rachel's darkly hilarious tale of motherhood and rage made me feel seen. And adapting it with Amy Adams in mind has been the thing that has kept me going through the pandemic.
Nightbitch will hit theaters on December 6, 2024.
3/5 Nightbitch
A suburban mother struggles with the isolation of stay-at-home life while raising her young son. As she begins to embrace her primal instincts, she experiences strange transformations, leading her to question whether she's losing her mind or becoming something altogether different -- something feral and dangerous.
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