The puppy who ‘asked for a job’ and became the star of Netflix’s ‘Caramelo’

For a few weeks, director Diego Freitas traveled around Brazil looking for a canine star. Inspired by the dog Paçoca, which he adopted during the pandemic, he was looking for a charismatic mutt to play opposite Rafael Vitti in the film Caramelwhich premieres on Wednesday 8th on Netflix. He just didn’t expect the star to come to him: “A stray puppy appeared at our trainer’s door. He was about 3 months old, with a tummy full of worms. He was practically asking for a job. It was a sign from the universe”, the filmmaker told VEJA about Peanutthe charming and hyperactive dog who stars in the film.

Adopted by the team, Amendoim left the streets and became a star: he debuted in front of the cameras at 9 months old, after a semester of lots of training in the form of games with the film’s team — who had to teach him, among other things, the “fun” task of destroying part of the set. “Everything was like a big game. He was taught things that theoretically we don’t expect a dog to do, like destroying things, playing, jumping in places — because that’s what he does in the film”, explains the filmmaker, attesting that he discovered a “canine superstar.”

Although some films with dogs use CGI, the Netflix film brought between 40 and 60 real dogs to the screen. To keep all these people cozy, the set had a “big dog” with food, water and rest space. The protagonist of the film, Amendoim had a specialized team just for him, including a nutritionist, trainer, veterinarian and even a masseur (yes, to “relieve” stress). “When he didn’t feel like it anymore, he would go to the doghouse to take a nap. The dog’s time is a priority on set”, says the director. Peanut also had a stunt double. Common in pet films, canine doubles are used precisely to avoid overloading the animals. In the case of purebred dogs, the task is easier, due to the similarity between them.

For strays, finding identical little animals becomes more challenging. “It was the biggest difficulty. But we found a similar caramel in the shelters we visited. Derek is calmer, so he does the scenes where the dog is on his lap”, details the director about the behind-the-scenes of the film — which, in addition to the two caramels, featured dozens of other dogs, many of which ended up adopted by the team at the end of the process.

To bring spontaneity, two cameras were filming the animals almost all the time, and several of the antics they did ended up in the film. “We were filming the renovation of the trailer. Amendoim grabbed the paint roller and ran across the square, and we followed with the camera. This scene is in the film”, explains the director about the dynamics of filming with the little dog, who learned to destroy things every time the team said “action” on set. “THE We started using other words, and then he was just looking at the assistant director’s face waiting for him to say ‘action’ so he could run away.”