Tough Job: He Talks to the Animals

Allie Goolrick

Steve Becker works with the most difficult of actors. They bite, they squeal, they don't do what they're told. Sometimes they even rewrite the script. For an animal wrangler on film sets, these minor disasters are all in a day's work.

In the upcoming film Leatherheads, 22 football players storm a cattle field and end up in a tangle with the field's occupant, a huge cow with deformed horns named Bubberina. But that wasn't the original plan. The script called for the football players to simply rush past the cow during a game in the pasture. "The cow was guaranteed by the owners that nothing phased her," Becker recalls. "So when Bubberina was delivered to the set before the crew arrived I decided to test her. I ran full speed towards her face — and Bubberina never flinched. But 22 people...Players were diving under her belly. She was charging them. And I thought, 'I'm out of here. There goes my career.'"

Luckily for Becker, the scene became one of many happy accidents that make his job worth all of the uncertainty of working with film stars of the furry, scaly and feathered variety. Every day is a new adventure for an animal wrangler, who serves as a casting agent for animals for films and commercials -- setting up auditions, transporting animals and working with them during filming. Becker deals animals ranging from cats and dogs to wolves and snakes – who typically have to audition just as rigorously as their human co-stars. Producers will often call for 20 or more photos and hold live auditions.

For those of us who fantasize about seeing our own pets make it to the big time, Becker cautions that not just any animal can get its name in lights. "They're all super obedience trained," says Becker "They're obedience champions or show champions. I don't want to show up with anything that isn't really well trained."

Of course, as you can imagine, not all animals can be trained. On a visit to the Bold Life offices, Becker introduces a rabbit with a role in the upcoming film Mandie and the Secret Tunnel. Mr. Rabbit's job is to stand up and get shot by a bow and arrow (fake, of course). Finding a rabbit to stand up on command was another happy accident; Becker bought him from a local pet store. (He's still for sale there—just look for a rabbit that stands up!) "There's not a lot of training," he explains. "It's more like I just know this rabbit likes to stand up. I noticed the behavior and told the producer."

Most of the time, an animal's duties on the set are as simple as getting from point A to point B. But even that can be a challenge. Becker admits to having the most trouble with cats, who have been known to run away or hide out for hours. When an animal has to do something more complicated, "food motivation is everything," Becker says. "If it's a python, I'll rub rats across the carpet. Once he gets the scent we know he's going to follow that line."

To simulate a wolf attack with tame wolves from a local sanctuary*, Becker ties a cloth wrapped with liver fat around the actor's legs, then progressively moves the cloth up the actor's body all the way to his chest. After several practice runs, the wolf knows exactly where the food is and goes right for it, making for a convincing (and scary) attack scene.

In an upcoming commercial for the North Carolina Lottery, Romeo the Macaw has a speaking part. "We use peanut butter to make any animal speak," says Becker. "So right before cameras rolls, I stick peanut butter in their mouth. For the next few minutes the bird is doing everything with mouth movement. They insert voices later."

Becker knows all the tricks – from getting bears* to climb a tree by rubbing his shoes with bananas and climbing up before them, to squirting a python with water to get him to chase the actors. But sometimes even these tricks don't work. Recently Becker worked on a film with a stubborn English bulldog who, in a hilarious scene, was scripted to have an intimate moment with an actor's leg. But when the time came, the dog couldn't perform.

Amazingly, the easy-going Becker keeps a level head even in the midst of disaster. The key? Having a backup. "I brought in a stunt double to get the job done in case our star dog didn't," he says. "The stunt dog succeeded. Glad I brought in a double that week."

"Every shoot has that 'oh-my-god' moment," he continues. "But everything always turns out fine."

*Becker uses 98% percent wolf/dog hybrids that are state and federally permitted animals. All bears were filmed on the Cherokee Reservation.