Lots of fans writing to me are raving about you . So I thought it only fair that your fans should hear your views on all this acting business. I myself don’t like interviews that have more than ten questions so here are my ten questions for you.
I was found by a talent scout called Sled Reynolds. Sled’s job is to search out animal actors for the film business. I never really thought about acting until Sled approached me in a field in Kumeu, New Zealand (I actually thought he was going to ask me directions). Up until that point, I had a fairly normal horse existence. Eating hay, running around a paddock – you know, horse stuff. I must tell you though, acting has now consumed my life. It’s all I think about. I could never go back to my old life - pulling a cart or giving kiddies a ride on my back. I’m now a equestrian-thespian!
Well, I love all the obvious ones – Black Beauty, The Black Stallion, National Velvet, Seabiscuit, Hidalgo. But what I really like are comedies. Skandar and I found out accidentally that we are both huge fans of several of the same movies - Starsky and Hutch, Zoolander, Meet the Parents. Actually, anything Ben Stiller is in.
Love carrots more than anything, but they tend to put a bit of weight on my backside, so I stick to oats, hay and grass. Oh, and the occasional toastie sandwich, an NZ tradition.
I know this will sound crazy, but I love the color burnt orange. During the filming, the wranglers from Texas got me hooked on American football. I’m now a huge fan of the University of Texas’ football team and that’s their color.
Like I mentioned before, I was lucky enough to be scouted by Sled. Since then I’ve been on many auditions for films being shot in New Zealand (where I presently live). It’s a hard road with lots of rejection, but that doesn’t deter me. I recently heard about a film shooting here called “Waterhorse” which really excited me as I’m an avid swimmer, until I found out the waterhorse in the title was the Loch Ness Monster and that would really be a stretch for me to play (even with prosthetic makeup).
I think my part in the film brought a “real” voice to horses around the world. What I mean by that is until this film, we were mainly viewed as beasts of burden - “4x4”s for Cowboys, “Mr. Ed”- like parodies and unicorns. I’m really tired of those guys taking so much thunder away from us. And aside from all that, I think my comedic timing brought genuine humor to the film!
This being my first professional gig (I did a few high school plays prior) I must say that Andrew was a class act. He gave me my space to work in and was extremely patient of my “method” style of acting. I would definitely work with him again and he even hinted that I should audition for Shrek 3 – to replace that annoying donkey. I mean really, a donkey? They didn’t even start speaking English until a few hundred years ago. We horses on the other hand have been speaking the Queen’s English for thousands of years!
Sadly, I missed the battle filming as my older sister was giving birth to her first child. I tried to make it down for the tail end of shooting, but I couldn’t talk anyone into giving me a ride to the location. I did catch up with the filming unit back at Cair Paravel though.
I must say that I was very nervous when I first met Skandar during rehearsals. Word around the barn was he was a classically trained British actor and didn’t suffer fools. I spoke very little our first few days together, but eventually Skandar broke the ice with a great fart joke! Well, from that moment on, we were pals. At one