Hollywood is full of actors waiting on the opportunity to get their “big break.” For one dog in Phoenix, an opportunity came knocking at the most unexpected time. Monte was found in an animal shelter in that area of Arizona and will now be starring in Disney’s live-action remake of Lady and the Tramp. Justin Theroux will be providing the voice for the character in this remake of the 1955 animated feature.
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Filmmakers came across Monte at the HALO Animal Rescue in Phoenix. The pup was transferred from a shelter in New Mexico and destiny called in April 2018 when Monte was adopted for some sort of top-secret project. Heather Allen, president, and CEO of HALO, had no idea what these people wanted with the dog but was excited that he would be going to a good home.
“He was adopted from us in April of 2018, and we knew that the people that were meeting with him were considering him to be a Hollywood star, but we didn’t know for what, because it was top secret,” Allen told AZcentral. “We knew he had the potential to become a Hollywood dog.”
“When he arrived at the shelter he was super friendly, he greets people right away, he gives kisses, he loves attention, he knows ‘sit’ and he knows how to walk well on a leash,” she says.
To wit, Monte bears some real life similarities with Tramp. He’s a mutt and the people at HALO don’t exactly know what breed he is.
“He’s a terrier mix of some sort. He’s a shelter mutt,” Allen said, “That’s what makes this extra cool. It’s not that shelters don’t have purebred dogs, but he really represents how great shelter dogs are. They are super friendly and can be outgoing.”
Monte is staying in California these days as he prepares for his big role. A big time star, in fact the first one in the 25 years Allen has been at HALO. Some puppies in commercials but not in a big-time production like this.
“He’s unique,” Allen described Monte. “If he needs a stunt double, it’s not going to be easy to find a dog that looks like him.”
The live-action remake also features the voice talents of Janelle Monae as Peg, Sam Elliot as Trusty, Benedict Wong as Bull, and Ashley Jensen as a gender-bent version of Jack. In terms of human roles in the film, Kiersey Clemons and Thomas Mann will play the Dear family, and Yvette Nicole Brown will play Aunt Sarah.
The film will be directed by The LEGO Ninjago Movie‘s Charlie Bean, with a script from Andrew Bujalski. Jessica Virtue and Chaz Salembier are both overseeing the project for Disney.
