Bing, a Great Dane from Newton, stars in the upcoming film "The Friend" alongside Naomi Watts and Bill Murray.NEWTON, Iowa — From the doghouse to the silver screen, one Iowa dog has a new leash on life.Bing, a Great Dane from Newton, stars in the upcoming film &qu...
Bing, a Great Dane from Newton, stars in the upcoming film "The Friend" alongside Naomi Watts and Bill Murray.
NEWTON, Iowa — From the doghouse to the silver screen, one Iowa dog has a new leash on life.
Bing, a Great Dane from Newton, stars in the upcoming film "The Friend" alongside Naomi Watts and Bill Murray.
The movie follows Watts' character as she assumes care of Apollo, a 150-pound Great Dane, after her friend and Apollo's owner suddenly passes away.
In an interview on "Good Morning America," Watts described Bing as a cooperative co-star.
"He's on alert all day, he knows behaviors, he is sensitive to what's going on and that makes him a really good screen partner," Watts said.
The four-legged movie star belongs to Foto Danes dog breeder Bev Klingensmith, also of Newton.
According to Klingensmith's website, Bing was selected to star in "The Friend" back in 2020. However, filming was delayed until early 2024 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the actor-writer strikes.
The wait was worth it: Klingensmith and Bing lived in New York City for three months during filming, where Klingensmith served as Bing's trainer and handler.
"Bing did a fantastic job during the entire filming process and thoroughly enjoyed the work," Klingensmith said on the Foto Danes website. "His favorite scenes were ones requiring active behaviors. A lot of the behaviors needed were general obedience related, but he did have to learn a few new behaviors, like scratching a door and holding something in his mouth."
While Bing clearly has acting chops, Watts shared with "Good Morning America" viewers that there's more to him than meets the eye.
"He has a wonderful talent, a whole skillset on his resume I imagine, but one of them is that he can sing," Watts said. "And anytime an actor wrapped, he gave them a special send-off."
"The Friend" will hit theaters on April 4, 2025. Watch the trailer here.
Watch Watts and Bing's "Good Morning America" interview below.