Now we only have a few days till Disney + debuts (NOVEMBER 12TH) and on this first day, you will be able to see the live action Lady and The Tramp. The past few days I talked about my time on the set, interview with director Charlie Bean and Producer Brigham Taylor, and my interview with Head Animal Trainer, Mark Forbes. When I was in Savannah, we continued our interviews with Thomas Mann (Lady’s human owner, Jim Dear) and Adrian Martinez, “Elliot The Dog Catcher”. They were both so endearing that day and were able to answer so many of our questions.
INTERVIEW WIHT THOMAS MANN AND ADRIAN MARTINEZ:
Thomas Mann:
We first asked how he became involved in the film. He told us it came to him like any other audition. It was him and a few others up for this role. They had an idea who they wanted Jim Dear to be. He found out a day or two after he auditioned he got the part and was excited to work with the cast and producer. He said being part of Lady and the Tramp is a huge deal. This was his first time working with Disney.
“You catch little glimpses of the character lives in the animated version. But you don’t really get to know who they are as people. And this one, there’s still supporting characters. It’s still all about the dogs. But you get better sense of who they are, and you kind of get to know them, and you get a better sense of their personalities.”
He also loves playing a new, younger father in this. He told us he loved making progress in his career and to have fun! He puts on the clothes, sets on the sets, and has so much fun! He also mentioned to us his costume was not too difficult to wear.
We then wanted to know what’s it like working with the animals? He told us it depends on the day as a joke but in reality he said they were all great to work with.
“And we’ve gotten so much time to kind of bond with them off set. And while we were doing rehearsals and stuff, we got to just spend a lot of time playing with them and getting to work with the trainers, which was really important.” He said they are all the sweetest dogs.
He also mentioned he loves the entire movie but he says the opening shot is simply breathtaking.
Adrian Martinez:
We also asked him how he got involved with the project? He said it was an audition and they asked him to do a self tape. He came in and did that.
“So I put myself on the sites for the audition on a Tuesday and then that Wednesday, the next day I put myself on tape and then that Friday I heard I booked it and wow.”
He then told us about the process of working with the dogs, who were all strays, not staged ‘actors’. He told us the dogs are the real deal. They have handlers who help out and get treats when they do something well.
“But I love the dogs, because there’s three of them. There’s three Tramps, three Ladies. And one’s does the stunts, one’s just the sprints but Monty and Rose are the stars and they’re just gorgeous animals and are really sweet and loving. Which is a challenge to me, because I’m like the antagonist trying to catch Tramp.
And they took me to a kennel to work with him so that he knows I’m an actor, I’m not just the bad guy. He was like licking my face trying to get on my good side.”
He then told us about filming in Savannah.
“This is like the penultimate, no it’s the ultimate city for this movie, it’s so perfect. Because it’s so quiet and chill here, you really feel like it’s nineteen ten and some of the production design. Like we filmed in Wright Square and they set it up like it’s the scene where they introduce my character to the movie. And then I see Tramp and I chase him. The whole block was totally cool like nineteen ten store fronts and everything.”
Our next question was how many takes a scene as the dog catcher was he doing? He said if it’s a scene where he’s running, he hopes it is just one. LOL He said it is usually one or two.
He is just so excited to be in this movie! He is a huge Disney fan, so this was a big honor for him!
“Lady and the Tramp” debuts on November 12, 2019, streaming only on Disney +.
*Thanks to Disney for providing me accommodations to Savannah to attend this event. All opinions are my own and not swayed by outside sources.*