Dog Star In Hulu’s Prey Was a Newbie, But She Kept Getting More Scenes

 

Normally, when including an animal in the cast of a movie or series, well-trained dogs or cats get the role. However, when it came to the new Hulu movie Prey, a newbie joined the cast and ended up getting way more scenes than planned. Meanwhile, Coco, the American Dingo has gone on to be loved by the cast, crew and fans of the movie.

About the movie Prey on Hulu

Prey is the fifth Predator film and director Dan Trachtenberg had only planned a few dog scenes in the movie. However, feedback quickly changed his mind, and the newbie dog star, Coco went on to have many more scenes than planned.

Hulu’s Prey is set in the early 18th century and tells the story of Naru (Amber Midthunder), a Comanche hunter. In fact, she gets to face off against the first alien Predator to land on Earth. Since its premiere, Prey has become a hit with audiences and critics alike with many praising Midthunder’s performance and the movie’s setting.

While Naru is the main character, Prey features a number of supporting characters, including her brother Taabe (Dakota Beavers). Other than this, Naru is a loner and is often at odds with the male members of her tribe because she wants to be a hunter. Meanwhile, it is her dog, Sarii, who is her main companion. The American Dingo is with Naru every step of the way. She’s involved in Naru’s hunting trips and even features in one of the movie’s scariest moments when she has a close call with a grizzly bear.

Why were there more dog scenes than planned in the movie?

According to Discussing Film, Trachtenberg said he originally intended Sarii (Coco the American Dingo) to have a small role. However, he said that during the editing process, friends and family members that watched the test screenings called for more dog scenes.

This proved to be challenging for the director due to the limited number of suitable scenes he had to draw from. However, he ultimately pulled it off. Speaking of this, Trachtenberg said:

It was a huge difference, the making of the movie and the watching of the movie. How do we get Coco out of this scene? How can we shoot her and get her away? As we were developing [Prey] or showing cuts to friends and family, everyone was like, ‘more dog.’ I’m like, ‘you don’t understand, we can’t. We are using every usable frame of this dog!’

While it wasn’t easy, Trachtenberg clearly pulled off the additional dog scenes and made it work. Meanwhile, during the movie, Sarii is a loyal, but an independent dog. While she does take cues from Naru, she also makes her own decisions, sometimes going off on her own.

Moreover, the American Dingo clearly struck a chord with test-screening viewers, but most importantly, Sarii made it to the end of the movie alive. Animal lovers often say they won’t watch a movie where the dog dies, but fortunately, Prey is safe and exciting to watch.

Amber Midthunder on Coco

Midthunder noted that her costar Coco wasn’t a trained movie dog. In fact, she was adopted specially for the movie. As a result of this, the dog was challenging on set at times.

“She was a little bit of a hot mess – but in a sweet way,” Amber told Dexerto, adding:

She was not a movie dog, she was literally adopted to be in this movie, and she just happened to be very high-energy.

Midthunder said she was a “delight to have around,” as she was “so fun and very playful.” When it was time to seriously film a scene, sometimes she would do it, but sometimes she wouldn’t. However, Amber added that obviously, it all ended up fine, because she was great and everybody loves her.

While there aren’t too many scenes featuring Sarii in the trailer included here, Prey is streaming on Hulu right now.