Dream Horse's Toni Collette shares why horses make such great actors
Toni Collette's got great on-screen chemistry with just about anyone, so it's no surprise there's a spark between her and the titular Dream Horse.
Film Features Horses
Cameron Diaz, Steve Carrell, Nia Vardalos, the demon King Paimon—throughout her career, Toni Collette has proven she’s capable of great on-screen chemistry with just about anyone. And, wouldn’t you know it, in her new film Dream Horse she’s got great chemistry with a horse! In this classic feel-good underdog story directed by Euros Lyn, Collette stars as Jan Vokes, a small-town Welsh woman who rallies her neighbors to raise funds to breed and train a race horse of their own, named Dream Alliance. Over the course of filming, Dream was played by a number of different equine actors, but Collette’s primary scene partner was a horse named Beau, who she developed quite a connection with. Here’s what Collette told The A.V. Club about her work with Beau:
This horse was incredible. It was really quite a profound connection because he just was able to listen, he was present. And it wasn’t just in my mind; the entire crew was like, “Whoa, this is amazing,” because we were really, really communicating and connecting. So I feel really grateful that I had an experience like this—I’ve never worked with a horse in this way. I mean, I love horses, I’ve had some experience with horses, but it was quite emotionally intimate. My character has such love for this horse, and he becomes such a symbol of hope not only for her, but for the entire community and ultimately the country. So it was it was pretty special, I’ve got to say.
But beyond the horses, Dream Horse is the story of a community, particularly a small valley town in South Wales that had fallen on hard times. Unsurprisingly, Toni Collette hits it off with them as well, fitting right in alongside the local talent who make up Dream Alliance’s racing syndicate. Though she was nervous about nailing the Welsh accent, she says the community welcomed her with opens arms and made her feel at home the minute they started singing—something the Welsh apparently do all the time (“It sounds like a big generalization, but they do,” Collette admits). In the video above, Collette speaks more about the warmth of the Welsh, why it’s so easy to fall for horses, and what makes Dream Horse a particularly inspiring story right now.
Dream Horse is playing in select theaters now and is available on demand beginning June 11.
Image Credit: Bleecker Street
13 Comments
I like to imagine that all horse movies are part of one equine cinematic universe.Anyway, what I’m really saying is that I want a Bad Horse movie.
If you watch Dream Horse thru the mid-credits, War Horse shows up, cigar in mouth, and announces he’s assembling a team.
Ah, yes: the Hayvengers.
anyway, what I’m really saying is that I want a Bad Horse movie.
I disagree, I think Sarah Jessica Parker is a terrible actress… but I’m glad to see she’s still getting roles.
I know it’s trollish to point it out at this point, but as much as I admire the AV Club’s “we still have journalistic/critical integrity when it comes to grades” stance, the gap between the reviews and the multiple “stories” that are just repackaging a single quote someone made about a movie somewhere else really intensify the “spon-con” vibes.
in this case, this isn’t a sourced quote from “somewhere else”—it’s from a video interview we did with Toni, which is explained in the writing (plus the full video is at the top of the post).I’ve also never really seen the issue with finding different angles of coverage on a film that got a weak review? We’re a staff, we’re not all going to have the same opinion on things. So while I mostly agree with the review we ran, and found this movie very boiler-plate “feel good,” I enjoyed it. Plus, I mean, it’s Toni Collette—how could I pass up an opportunity to talk to her?
Not trying to launch a personal attack here. Sorry I did not watch the video/read the piece built around a single quote about how nice it is to work with horses more carefully.
Oh, no, I mean, I didn’t take it personally; it’s completely fine and I respect your opinion. I just wanted to point out that your argument was misrepresenting what this piece actually is.
With all due respect, you’re going to create a lot of extra work for yourself if you feel the need to respond to every commenter complaining about the declining content quality without bothering to carefully parse the article. 🙂
Game, set, match. Well played, haha.
I mean, do you think if a film gets a negative review all press junket interviews should be removed or cancelled? It’s not like the movie did a bad thing and needs to be punished if it got a B- or a C… It’s still an upcoming release with a big star and that will get coverage regardless of the review.I really don’t think you’re being realistic about how the entertainment media works.
Animals don’t get to “choose” to act, so no, horses aren’t the best actors and live animals should not be used in entertainment, which is riddled with abuse of animals, it’s shitty AVClub is shilling for animal abusers. https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-in-entertainment/animals-in-film-tv/