Working with animals forces an actor to work harder because you have to be quick when it comes to improvisation, and you can't break character - at all.
'Lassie' was amazing. I didn't have any scenes with humans. There's a couple little bits, here or there, but mainly just me and my horse and a couple of dogs in the Isle of Man.
You can't train a goat. You can't. You can't. So I don't recommend making a movie with a goat in a major role to anyone.
I wouldn't have raced a horse. But you'll then throw back at me that Jesse Owens raced against a horse, and he's one of my heroes, so I'm not going to say it was a silly stunt. I know too much about horses. They're highly unreliable, and they've got brains the size of golf balls.
Something about the goat dancing made me want to cry.
The dog actors and the relationship they have with their trainers is one of the most beautiful things I've ever watched happen in front of me.
No wonder circus animals do what they do: They tortured them. And you know the only ones they can't control? It's the chimpanzees. You can't control them. That's why you never see a gorilla in a movie, because the gorilla may decide there'll be no filming.
I can't speak American dog very well. There was a lot of improvisation with Uggie - like when I put the dog on the table or sometimes I follow him, sometimes he follows me. I had a lot of treats in my pocket. We worked with Omar Von Muller, the dog trainer. It was very easy because it was a big movie.
But for the use of physical punishment by, and fear of their oppressors, animals would never be a part of a circus.
When children see animals in a circus, they learn that animals exist for our amusement. Quite apart from the cruelty involved in training and confining these animals, the whole idea that we should enjoy the humiliating spectacle of an elephant or lion made to perform circus tricks shows a lack of respect for the animals as individuals.
Oh, the cat I worked with on 'Game of Thrones' was so badly behaved! It would never do anything it was supposed to do. I was like, 'Get your game together, cat. You're so bad.'
I love watching a good horse do what he's bred to do - I guess that's what I like the most about it. And I love to see good athletes do what they're bred to do.
When I appear in public people expect me to neigh, grind my teeth, paw the ground and swish my tail - none of which is easy.
It was actually quite easy to work with Uggie, because he's a really well trained dog. Very talented. I just had to follow him a little bit, improvise a little bit. Sometimes he'd follow me. Especially because of the sausages I had in my pocket.
I seem to be landing a lot of roles with animal interactions, which is amazing.
I think that now that we are seeing multimedia types of productions with videos and pictures and human beings performing the acts that animals used to perform, such as in Cirque du Soleil and other traveling troops, there is no need to parade animals around anymore in cages for personal gratification.
Most of the actors that do play apes have told me that it's been one of the most profound things they've done, because you have to be so honest with yourself.
When Frank the Pug is singing I Will Survive, the only reason it's funny is that Will is in that shot trying not to get angry. A shot of a dog singing I Will Survive on its own will not get a laugh.
Silly humans. Banging on a tub to make a bear dance when we would move the stars to pity.
I'm impressed with how professional they are and what they can get an animal to do. I mean, dogs and cats - that's one thing. But when you get into the larger animals, that's a different thing all together.
Animals are the best actors. They never lie, they're always present, and they listen. That's a lot more than a lot of actors can say for themselves.
Working with animals is always going to be tough because the animal doesn't know it's an actor.
But I've worked where they've had animals before, and animal wranglers, the people who raise animals and train animals for films and television, they're all very, very professional.
Bart The Bear was fantastic to work with. Absolutely brilliant and so, so good. The things that that bear could do to order! He was one of the best actors I've ever worked with.
Have you ever seen a one trick pony in the field so happy and free? If you've ever seen a one trick pony then you've seen me Have you ever seen a one-legged dog making his way down the street? If you've ever seen a one-legged dog then you've seen me.
