Greg Tresan and Jacqui Johnson appear on our Zoom call on either side of a couch, upon which two adorable golden retrievers are sitting nicely at attention. Tresan playfully asks me if I can tell which of the two is Jolt, aka Lucky the Pizza Dog from Marvel’s Hawkeye.
Having watched the first two episodes at the time of our interview, I tentatively pick the dog on the left. I’m wrong. The right-hand dog is Jolt, while on the left is her sister and “double,” Eevee. On a Zoom call with an admittedly shaky connection, they could be twins, despite being two years apart in age.
Johnson, Jolt and Eevee’s owner and handler, never intended for either dog to go into showbiz. She initially chose both dogs as puppies to train in agility and obedience, as well as to be family dogs along with their mother, Annie. Johnson tells me she has two little boys, and her rule was that she picked the pups, but the kids got to name them. So the boys named them after Pokemon: Eevee of course, and Jolt is short for its thunder-based evolution, Jolteon.
It was through Johnson’s work with both dogs in agility that she met Tresan, who along with his wife Carol owns the kennel and dog gym Atlanta Dogworks, as well as Animal Casting Atlanta. Johnson brought her dogs to the gym to jump and train, and Tresan saw Jolt’s potential, eventually suggesting that she try some acting work.
Tresan has a history working with bigger productions to cast their animals – it was through him that Stranger Things got its Chester, WandaVision got its Sparky (who also made a brief guest appearance on our call), and Venom found Gemini. When Jolt and Johnson auditioned for Hawkeye, however, they had no idea of the scope of what they were auditioning for at first due to Marvel’s secrecy. When the pair showed up for auditions – which took place remotely due to COVID-19 – Johnson initially assumed the role was for a cameo in a kids’ show or something like that.
Though Tresan showed a number of dogs for the Pizza Dog role, it was ultimately narrowed down to Jolt and two others, including Cruiser, who plays Chester in Stranger Things. Over a video call, Johnson put Jolt through her paces, showing off her obedience, agility, and retrieval skills. And conveniently, Jolt came with a dog double in Eevee, too. But Tresan says what ultimately sold Jolt as Pizza Dog was her overall look and vibe as an adorable golden retriever.
“Pizza Dog is – I don’t want to say it’s iconic, but it’s part of the canon for Marvel stuff, and it was visually already there in the comic,” he says. “So I think that they had something very strong in mind.”
On the set of Hawkeye, Johnson tells me it was a lot of “hurry up and wait.” Jolt spent a lot of days chilling in her dog bed or in a kennel waiting for her turn in front of the camera. Eevee was kept on hand specifically in case Pizza Dog was needed for two things at the same time, and did actually double for Jolt in the show. And yes, Pizza Dog’s eye injury in the show is CG – Tresan tells me they scanned the dog every time they went out to film to get the look just right.
Once Jolt was in the spotlight, her training really came into play. Tresan tells me that she had to learn some new tricks for Hawkeye, though he can’t talk specifically about what they were. And there were some challenges, too. “You can see from the action there was a lot going on. When a dog’s running loose in the middle of 5th Avenue, it’s a pretty big deal.”
"It’s a special skill to be able to release your dog to somebody else and make them their dog for the moment."
More specifically, he cites the difficulty of keeping a dog focused on a set full of hundreds of people, all of whom are, naturally, very excited to hang out with a cute and friendly dog.
“When you bring a dog like this on set, the big challenge is to keep people from petting the dog. Because everyone wants to have a moment with the dog, which, from my perspective as an animal wrangler, is really difficult. Just constantly looking to somebody for attention can be very distracting and doesn’t look good on camera… When we bring the dogs to set, we bring them to be somebody else’s dog. They’re not supposed to be our dogs. It’s a special skill to be able to release your dog to somebody else and make them their dog for the moment.”
He points out one specific scene in episode 3, “Echoes,” when Clint and Kate take Pizza Dog for a walk in the park. Tresan recalls that Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton/Hawkeye) previously described the walk as difficult to film because Jolt kept getting distracted by squirrels. But, Tresan insists, it wasn’t the squirrels that were the problem – it was Johnson.
“It was really cold out and she was wearing this red down coat with a hat, and she looked like many, many other people that were going through the park. So at a certain point I said she had to disappear so Jolt would stay focused. But unfortunately, everyone was dressed like Jacqui. So [Jolt was going,] ‘Is this my mom? Is this my mom?’”
With Hawkeye wrapped, both dogs are back to their usual business – agility, diving (once the winter months are over), and being adorable family dogs. As Jolt rolls over on the couch and shows us all her fuzzy belly, Johnson describes their life at home. Eevee, she says, is “just sunshine and rainbows,” while Jolt is, in real life just as in the series, a massive “food hound.” In fact, she was particularly easy to train because of her incredible food motivation: treats, Cheezits, pepperonis, anything sounds good to her.
Even pizza? I ask. Yes, especially pizza. In fact, Tresan says pizza is “an intrinsic part of their training” even if they don’t use it very often.
So yes, Jolt is eating real pizza in Hawkeye, and she’s loving every second of it. They didn’t want to do too many takes of her eating the real thing, Tresan says, since it’s not great for dogs to have a ton at once, but he adds that the first piece she ate on camera “went down really fast.”
"She can get into some trouble, but that’s why I kept her."
And even outside of training, Johnson says, Jolt finds ways to get her jaws around some pie.
“There was one time my neighbor brought me a very large pizza over,” she says. “I put it on the counter. Was going to get the mail, say goodbye to the neighbor, I walk back in and see Eevee and their mother Annie at the door waiting for me to come in, and I don’t see Jolt. So I walk in the house, and next thing I know the entire large pizza is gone, minus half of a slice, because someone jumped up on the counter to eat the entire pizza.”
Her love of pizza combined with Jolt’s birthday occurring on the same day as the premiere of Hawkeye feels almost like doggy destiny, and Johnson agrees as Jolt looks up at her with a massive, ornery grin. Johnson responds with a gentle nose boop.
“She can get into some trouble,” she continues. “But that’s why I kept her. She was the puppy who always escaped, but when she escaped she’d come and find us and be like, ‘Hey, what are we doing?’ She’s my troublemaker.”
For Jolt fans, Hawkeye is likely not the last we’ll see of her. Johnson runs an Instagram account of Jolt’s adventures with her family that’s taken off since Hawkeye, and Tresan says he thinks Jolt “has a movie in her.”
What’s Jolt’s dream role? Johnson suggests it’d be cool if “we had some kind of Air Bud or Homeward Bound theme going.” But Tresan wants to see something original. He suggests a Scorcese film, “I think they need to be in some dramatic role.” But given Jolt’s love of action, Tresan eventually settles on a hypothetical John Wick 5.
As our call concludes, Eevee wanders off the couch and returns, moments later, to deliver Johnson a random piece of plastic. Johnson then demonstrates the best way to get Jolt to look at the camera – simply look at her and ask, “Are you hungry?” Jolt’s eyes light up, her ears perk up, and she lifts her head to attention. Then, no pizza to be found, she leans in to give Johnson kisses as treats are distributed to all.
Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.
Continue reading...
Having watched the first two episodes at the time of our interview, I tentatively pick the dog on the left. I’m wrong. The right-hand dog is Jolt, while on the left is her sister and “double,” Eevee. On a Zoom call with an admittedly shaky connection, they could be twins, despite being two years apart in age.
Johnson, Jolt and Eevee’s owner and handler, never intended for either dog to go into showbiz. She initially chose both dogs as puppies to train in agility and obedience, as well as to be family dogs along with their mother, Annie. Johnson tells me she has two little boys, and her rule was that she picked the pups, but the kids got to name them. So the boys named them after Pokemon: Eevee of course, and Jolt is short for its thunder-based evolution, Jolteon.
It was through Johnson’s work with both dogs in agility that she met Tresan, who along with his wife Carol owns the kennel and dog gym Atlanta Dogworks, as well as Animal Casting Atlanta. Johnson brought her dogs to the gym to jump and train, and Tresan saw Jolt’s potential, eventually suggesting that she try some acting work.
Tresan has a history working with bigger productions to cast their animals – it was through him that Stranger Things got its Chester, WandaVision got its Sparky (who also made a brief guest appearance on our call), and Venom found Gemini. When Jolt and Johnson auditioned for Hawkeye, however, they had no idea of the scope of what they were auditioning for at first due to Marvel’s secrecy. When the pair showed up for auditions – which took place remotely due to COVID-19 – Johnson initially assumed the role was for a cameo in a kids’ show or something like that.
Though Tresan showed a number of dogs for the Pizza Dog role, it was ultimately narrowed down to Jolt and two others, including Cruiser, who plays Chester in Stranger Things. Over a video call, Johnson put Jolt through her paces, showing off her obedience, agility, and retrieval skills. And conveniently, Jolt came with a dog double in Eevee, too. But Tresan says what ultimately sold Jolt as Pizza Dog was her overall look and vibe as an adorable golden retriever.
“Pizza Dog is – I don’t want to say it’s iconic, but it’s part of the canon for Marvel stuff, and it was visually already there in the comic,” he says. “So I think that they had something very strong in mind.”
On the set of Hawkeye, Johnson tells me it was a lot of “hurry up and wait.” Jolt spent a lot of days chilling in her dog bed or in a kennel waiting for her turn in front of the camera. Eevee was kept on hand specifically in case Pizza Dog was needed for two things at the same time, and did actually double for Jolt in the show. And yes, Pizza Dog’s eye injury in the show is CG – Tresan tells me they scanned the dog every time they went out to film to get the look just right.
Once Jolt was in the spotlight, her training really came into play. Tresan tells me that she had to learn some new tricks for Hawkeye, though he can’t talk specifically about what they were. And there were some challenges, too. “You can see from the action there was a lot going on. When a dog’s running loose in the middle of 5th Avenue, it’s a pretty big deal.”
"It’s a special skill to be able to release your dog to somebody else and make them their dog for the moment."
More specifically, he cites the difficulty of keeping a dog focused on a set full of hundreds of people, all of whom are, naturally, very excited to hang out with a cute and friendly dog.
“When you bring a dog like this on set, the big challenge is to keep people from petting the dog. Because everyone wants to have a moment with the dog, which, from my perspective as an animal wrangler, is really difficult. Just constantly looking to somebody for attention can be very distracting and doesn’t look good on camera… When we bring the dogs to set, we bring them to be somebody else’s dog. They’re not supposed to be our dogs. It’s a special skill to be able to release your dog to somebody else and make them their dog for the moment.”
He points out one specific scene in episode 3, “Echoes,” when Clint and Kate take Pizza Dog for a walk in the park. Tresan recalls that Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton/Hawkeye) previously described the walk as difficult to film because Jolt kept getting distracted by squirrels. But, Tresan insists, it wasn’t the squirrels that were the problem – it was Johnson.
“It was really cold out and she was wearing this red down coat with a hat, and she looked like many, many other people that were going through the park. So at a certain point I said she had to disappear so Jolt would stay focused. But unfortunately, everyone was dressed like Jacqui. So [Jolt was going,] ‘Is this my mom? Is this my mom?’”
With Hawkeye wrapped, both dogs are back to their usual business – agility, diving (once the winter months are over), and being adorable family dogs. As Jolt rolls over on the couch and shows us all her fuzzy belly, Johnson describes their life at home. Eevee, she says, is “just sunshine and rainbows,” while Jolt is, in real life just as in the series, a massive “food hound.” In fact, she was particularly easy to train because of her incredible food motivation: treats, Cheezits, pepperonis, anything sounds good to her.
Even pizza? I ask. Yes, especially pizza. In fact, Tresan says pizza is “an intrinsic part of their training” even if they don’t use it very often.
So yes, Jolt is eating real pizza in Hawkeye, and she’s loving every second of it. They didn’t want to do too many takes of her eating the real thing, Tresan says, since it’s not great for dogs to have a ton at once, but he adds that the first piece she ate on camera “went down really fast.”
"She can get into some trouble, but that’s why I kept her."
And even outside of training, Johnson says, Jolt finds ways to get her jaws around some pie.
“There was one time my neighbor brought me a very large pizza over,” she says. “I put it on the counter. Was going to get the mail, say goodbye to the neighbor, I walk back in and see Eevee and their mother Annie at the door waiting for me to come in, and I don’t see Jolt. So I walk in the house, and next thing I know the entire large pizza is gone, minus half of a slice, because someone jumped up on the counter to eat the entire pizza.”
Her love of pizza combined with Jolt’s birthday occurring on the same day as the premiere of Hawkeye feels almost like doggy destiny, and Johnson agrees as Jolt looks up at her with a massive, ornery grin. Johnson responds with a gentle nose boop.
“She can get into some trouble,” she continues. “But that’s why I kept her. She was the puppy who always escaped, but when she escaped she’d come and find us and be like, ‘Hey, what are we doing?’ She’s my troublemaker.”
For Jolt fans, Hawkeye is likely not the last we’ll see of her. Johnson runs an Instagram account of Jolt’s adventures with her family that’s taken off since Hawkeye, and Tresan says he thinks Jolt “has a movie in her.”
What’s Jolt’s dream role? Johnson suggests it’d be cool if “we had some kind of Air Bud or Homeward Bound theme going.” But Tresan wants to see something original. He suggests a Scorcese film, “I think they need to be in some dramatic role.” But given Jolt’s love of action, Tresan eventually settles on a hypothetical John Wick 5.
As our call concludes, Eevee wanders off the couch and returns, moments later, to deliver Johnson a random piece of plastic. Johnson then demonstrates the best way to get Jolt to look at the camera – simply look at her and ask, “Are you hungry?” Jolt’s eyes light up, her ears perk up, and she lifts her head to attention. Then, no pizza to be found, she leans in to give Johnson kisses as treats are distributed to all.
Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.
Continue reading...