Amy Adams Was in Awe of Her Canine Costars in ‘Nightbitch’: ‘It Was Wild’

Amy Adams has only been away from movie screens for a couple years. Her last credit is 2022’s “Disenchanted.” But Saturday night at the Toronto Film Festival felt like the return of an actor who’s been sorely missed, judging from the massive ovation Adams received after the world premiere of Marielle Heller’s new “Nightbitch.”

Adams’ complex, bravura performance fits right in with her other roles of self-actualization in “Junebug,” “Enchanted” and “Sharp Objects.” Here, in a film that combines domestic struggles, comedy, direct-to-camera address, social satire and magic, Adams plays a mother who finds herself transforming into a big, strong, beautiful dog. (Scoot McNairy costars as her husband and as in Rachel Yoder’s 2021 source novel, both characters and their tyke son are unnamed.)

Onstage after the premiere, Adams explained that she was drawn to the human qualities of the material. “One of the wonderful explorations of the film is about the isolation that comes from [motherhood]. The transformation from motherhood to parenthood is a shared experience that isn’t often shared. So it’s such a gift to share this with you all.”

However, this is still a movie in which she transforms – like old Lon Cheney in “The Wolf Man” style – into a four-legged beast. Some in attendance at the premiere Saturday night mentioned a potential future double-bill of “Nightbitch” and “The Substance” (also showing in Toronto), another body transformation film, starring Demi Moore.

Heller (“Can You Ever Forgive Me”), who also appears in a flash cameo in the very first minute of “Nightbitch” as a mom pushing a stroller with two unruly children, explained that wrangling the real-life dogs was one of her greatest challenges.

“We had 12 dogs on set with 12 trainers all hiding in bushes,” she said. “We spent a long time casting the dogs, casting the dog that was Amy. That’s actually a beautiful story because we were looking for a reddish husky and we couldn’t find one. And so they ended up adopting one who they found in a shelter in California and trained her for many months before we shot the film. She was just the most gorgeous dog.”

Heller shared that during a scene where Adams’ character bonds with a pack of dogs in the night, the actress inadvertently spooked the gaggle of well-trained pets.

“There’s a scene where Amy is going to walk on this step and walk down these steps, and the dogs start swarming around her,” Heller explained. “We did it over and over and over again. Of course, Amy is acting when she does it, so she’s doing this weird thing of looking at the dogs. And the dogs freaked out and started lunging at her.”

Adams recalled with a laugh, “It was wild. Yeah, I freaked the dogs out on the set of ‘Nightbitch.’ We got it under control. We took one off, the one that was still not going to be OK no matter what I did because he didn’t trust me after that. He got a good rest for the rest of the night.”

McNairy also praised his collaborators and explained one thing he learned while making the film: “Don’t mansplain motherhood.” He added, “I hope all you guys [in the audience] learned some of the things I learned. Which is: Shut up and listen.”

“Nightbitch” will be released by Searchlight Pictures in December.

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