Part of Arthur the King will live with Simu Liu forever. The Shang-Chi actor filmed the adventure racing story two years ago in the Dominican Republic, teaming up with Mark Wahlberg (Michael), Nathalie Emmanuel (Olivia), and Ali Suliman (Chik) to embark on a cross-country endurance-based competition. During the race, the team comes across Arthur, a stray dog who makes great efforts to run alongside them. Arthur, played by a dog named Ukai, was just one of many canines on set, as Arthur the King‘s behind-the-scenes team populated certain scenes with groupings of background dogs.
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“We showed up for set one day and there were all these dogs,” Liu told ComicBook.com. “We were told that they were playing background dogs just to sprinkle around in the deep background, but that they all were adoptable. They were all from this one shelter out of Santa Domingo. I basically knew at that point. When you show up to set and there’s that many dogs, you’re just like, ‘Cut! Okay, great scene. Peace.’ I just went in the corner and I start playing with the dogs. Chopa was just the one that I had this special connection with.”
As chronicled in Arthur the King, Liu’s character Leo nearly perishes as he runs full speed towards a hidden cliff. Arthur speeds past him and barks incessantly, warning Leo of the imminent danger. After some back and forth, Leo notices the drop and staggers backwards, shook at the realization that he would’ve fallen to his death had Arthur not interfered.
Shortly after, Leo has a heart-to-heart with Arthur, offering the stray dog a meatball and thanking him for “saving [his] life.”
“It definitely hits differently when I watch it back,” Liu said of that line. “I remember that was still quite early on in the shoot that we shot that scene. I had not met Chopa yet. I met Chopa probably like three quarters of the way through. It really did end up being life imitating art, imitating life, because it was based on a true story. That dog did end up saving my life. I had just said goodbye to a very good furry friend of mine whom I was with for seven years.
“I had taken some time to grieve, as everyone does, and you really feel that loss. I was taking the time to really process. It had been over a year and I was just starting to get to the point where I was readying myself to form another one of those bonds. She came into my life at the perfect moment.”
Arthur the King is now in theaters.
