The Fall Guy's Adorable Dog Was Ryan Gosling's Tribute To A Real-Life Pooch [SXSW 2024]

As a rule, we here at /Film try not to pit icons against each other. That said, "Anatomy of a Fall" breakout star Messi better watch his tail because he's not the only movie dog poised to win over hearts and minds at theaters these days.

By all accounts, "The Fall Guy" is an excellent and entertaining ode to stunt performers and blue-collar workers everywhere. (For much more on that, check out /Film's review by Jacob Hall here.) But as much as the film is designed around the appeal of genuine movie stars like Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, may we never sleep on the novelty and appeal of a lovable dog character making an appearance in the middle of all the action, too. Look no further than the mainstream success of "John Wick," after all, although this time it's safe to say that animal lovers need not fear any grisly fates. That turns out to be a tool that director David Leitch made sure to take full advantage of alongside everything else at his disposal, based on the recent avalanche of glowing reactions out of its world premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival.

During a Q&A session following the screening attended by /Film, Gosling revealed this plotline had a deeply personal connection to him, thanks to a four-legged friend he once had in his life: "Eva [Mendes, Gosling's wife] used to have a dog named Hugo, who was a Belgian Malinois who was an attack dog. And he only spoke French. He's passed now, so this is my homage to him. I miss that dude." As you can imagine, the festival crowd erupted into a collective "Awwww" at that anecdote, only making the actor and the movie overall all the more endearing.

"The Fall Guy" sounds like precisely the kind of blockbuster we need these days, partly for its focus on the most underappreciated members of the filmmaking community but also for its efforts to help bring back the rom-com. We've seen some encouraging results on that front recently, between the box-office performances of both the Sydney Sweeney/Glen Powell-starring "Anyone But You" and Jennifer Lawrence's "No Hard Feelings," but the Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt film should be yet another step in the right direction. But with so much going on in the film, why bring an animal performer into the mix? Well, maybe the better question is why not?

Director David Leitch addressed this during another part of the Q&A, no doubt thinking back to his experiences on the set of the first "John Wick." The scene-stealer of "The Fall Guy" turns out to be a dog character, an Australian Kelpie cheekily named Jean Claude who practically plays a supporting role in the story (and, per the moderator of the panel, was actually portrayed by two female dogs). According to Leitch:

"It was another inspired idea from our creative sessions and we wanted to bring this additional character into the mix. When you're in an action scene, you're always trying to give yourself problems to solve to make the choreography fresh. Rain is good, ice is good, and adding an animal on set is always great. The character just took on a life of its own."

As if audiences didn't have plenty of reasons to buy their tickets already, they had to go and add an adorable dog into the mix. I don't know about you, but I can't wait to see what tricks Jean Claude has up its paws.

The Fall Guy" comes to theaters on May 3, 2024.