Nightbitch Director Marielle Heller Got the Perfect Pooch to Play Amy Adams

Juno. Photo: Searchlight Pictures

In a world where “mother” and having “that dog in you” is a part of everyday internet slang, Nightbitch bridges the gap. Adapted from the 2021 novel of the same name, Amy Adams stars as a nameless Mother, a stay-at-home mom who believes she’s turning into a dog when the pressures of motherhood become too much. But how does one find a dog that embodies Adams in pup form? At the Los Angeles premiere on November 21, director and writer Marielle Heller explained to Vulture that she “spent a long time just looking at pictures of Amy and pictures of dogs” to try to find the perfect pooch for Adams to animorph into: “I knew I wanted some red in the hair,” She eventually landed on a red husky for the match and went to the film’s animal trainers to cast the dog. But finding a red husky that was camera-ready wasn’t as easy as she thought.

“They were like, ‘That is not a dog that is in the database because those dogs are not easily trainable,’” she recalled. “‘They’re not dogs we use for movies.’” However, Juno, the dog that booked the role, was born for the screen even if she wasn’t a nepo-puppy; the animal trainers discovered her in an animal shelter in California and trained her just for Nightbitch. The sudden rise to fame must’ve gotten to Juno’s head, as she “didn’t really like to share the spotlight,” Heller explained; Juno didn’t have scenes with the other dogs. “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,” Heller added. “It’s weird.” After finding her calling as an actress, Juno found a home with the animal trainers who adopted her, Maybe she’ll pave the way for more onscreen huskies or, at the very least, a demand for equipment that can keep up.