Will Smith tried to adopt ‘I Am Legend’ dog and calls her “a brilliant actress”
Actor Will Smith has been remembering his fond memories of working with one of his co-stars from the 2007 post-apocalyptic action thriller film I Am Legend, but not exactly one of his fellow human actors as one might expect.
Instead, Smith has been reminiscing about featuring alongside his special dog friend, Abbey, in the film. The actor said that his canine buddy was “a brilliant actress” and admitted that, at one point, he had actually tried to adopt her.
Appearing on the most recent episode of Hot Ones, Smith explained his love for Abbey, noting, “It was like Abbey spoke English. Like, she literally could understand you, it was the weirdest thing.”
Smith had wanted to take Abbey home with him but couldn’t because she “was the breadwinner of her family, and she had to stay”. I Am Legend is based on Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel and saw Smith play the last living human in New York, virologist Robert Neville, following the city and world being overrun by deadly mutants.
During the film, Neville’s only pal is his trusty dog Sam, played by Abbey. Smith had spoken of a particular scene in which Sam gets infected, and Neville has to leave her behind. “Abbey’s doing that,” Smith explained. “He trained Abbey to go limp and I laid her [down]. How do you train a dog to go limp?”
“It was like working with a brilliant actress,” the actor added. Earlier this year, for National Pet Day, Smith shared a video online of his working with Abbey and captioned the post, “The goodness girl.”
In terms of I Am Legend, there has also been a recent update on a potential sequel. Both Smith and Michael B. Jordan have announced that they would be co-producing and co-starring in a sequel to the 2007 film, and this week, Jordan announced that it is “still in the works”.
“We’re still working on the script and getting that up to par. It doesn’t have a release date or anything like that,” Smith told People. “I’m not sure exactly where we’re going to be filming that one, but I’m really excited to get in front of the camera with him.”
The actor added, “Being somebody that I’ve looked up to for a really long time, to be able to work with Will is something I’m really looking forward to. I’m really excited.”
Never Miss A Scene
The Far Out Film Newsletter
All the latest film news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.