Amy Adams’ Powerful ‘Nightbitch’ Performance ‘Freaked the Dogs out’ on Film’s Set

Amy Adams is renowned for her emotive big screen performances, but her upcoming work in Nightbitch might take the cake.

Adams, 50, revealed that her turn as an exhausted stay-at-home mother in Nightbitch , scheduled to hit cinemas on December 6, was so powerful that it scared the on-set dogs.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter at Nightbitch ’s world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival on Saturday, September 7, the American Hustle actress and Nightbitch director Marielle Heller detailed how Adams was filming a scene with a group of dogs when the animals became frightened.

“There’s a scene where Amy walks down the steps to all the dogs in the yard, and we had practiced with the trainers over and over again,” Heller, 44, told the outlet. “But of course, Amy’s acting … so she’s doing this weird looking at the dogs … and the dogs freaked out and started lunging at her.”

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Heller explained that Adam’s performance was so “odd” that it put the animals on edge. “It almost ruined the whole shoot. And the trainers were like, ‘Oh, they thought she would be stalking them.’ Her behavior was too odd, and it flipped them. It was wild.”

Adams concluded, “So, yeah, I freaked the dogs out on the set.”

Nightbitch , which also stars Arleigh Patrick Snowdon , Emmett James Snowdon , Zoë Chao , Mary Holland , Jessica Harper and Archana Rajan , is a realism-style story that centers on Adams’ depleted character who is caring for an energetic toddler. The character seemingly turns into a dog herself at night.

Adams turned the film’s premiere into a family affair herself, bringing her husband, Darren Le Gallo , and the couple’s daughter, Aviana, 14, with her.

The Doubt actress told People on the red carpet that she was excited to have her daughter accompany her at the event.

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“Parts of it I'm excited to share with her, being that it's her mom I'm gonna be a little bit more protective of certain aspects of the filmmaking,” Adams told the outlet. “I think what I want her to know about my experience of motherhood is how much she's enriched my life and made me the woman that I am today.”

Adams continued: “I tell her that all the time, but it's true and I'm glad that she's here tonight to get to celebrate with me.”

The actress has always been vocal about the value she puts in setting an example for her daughter, delicately balancing parenthood with her acting career.

“I want [Aviana] to know that it is not just women that can soar, she can soar and she needs to find her own light. I know she is on that path,” Adams told Entertainment Tonight in 2017. “That is something that I need to remind her. No light that shines on me creates a shadow for her to stand in.”