“There’s a lot of sausage involved,” says dog trainer Joanna Mayston.
Sometimes casting can be ruff.
“The demanding for food and demanding affection.
LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX
He loved all of the attention.
He would lap it up.
He never had an attitude, just a bit of a diva.”
Simone Ashley and Austin the corgi on ‘Bridgerton’.Liam Daniel/Netflix
Mayston recommended Austin get into film and television because he possesses the qualities of a canine star.
“I suggested him because he’s very greedy,” she explains.
Yes, you read that right.
Phoebe Dyvenor, Simone Ashley and Jonathan Bailey on ‘Bridgerton’.Liam Daniel/Netflix
The key to Austin’s appawse-worthy performance?
“There’s a lot of sausage involved,” Mayston says.
“Primarily cocktail sausage, but any sausage will do.
Jonathan Bailey on ‘Bridgerton’.Liam Daniel/Netflix
We train them with a few basic behaviors.
Things like going to a mark, doing ‘stays,’ going with people that aren’t necessarily us.
A few little tricks like how to speak on command.
“Austin has personality in spades,” adds Mayston.
You’re looking for a dog that’s at ease with themselves.
They’re quite comfortable, and novel things don’t distress them too much.
They go with the flow.
“They are very, very clever, so they are very, very trainable,” she says.
“But they are not necessarily what I would call biddable.
They’re not falling over themselves to like you.
They’re just like, ‘No, I’ve done it.
We did it twice.
You want to do more takes, that’s fine, but I’ve done it.’
They can catch on to things a bit quick.
You spend a lot of time trying not to let them in on the whole story.
They’re really challenging because they can be quite stubborn.”
For the barking, Austin had a natural advantage.
Picking up the pall mall ball required a bit more practice.
“He’s not a natural ball chaser,” notes Mayston.
“Lots of corgis aren’t that much into playing ball.
He had to be taught how to pick that up because that’s a very key moment.
When it came time to actually shoot that, he was really good, bless him.
He went out, picked it up, and trotted on as if he had stolen it.
Usually, corgis are a bit like, ‘You throw it, you fetch it.'”
There were also scenes that Austin didn’t nail on the first take.
He also proved a terrible temptation on set with his predilection for belly rubs.
One thing Austin wouldn’t do was get his paws dirty.
“True to his royal heritage.
Austin is not a fan of water or puddles or mud or filth,” Mayston says.
“They’re just not his thing.
So you had to carry him over things.”
In spite of his needy tendencies, Austin was beloved by cast and crew.
So will Newton return for season 3?
Mayston cryptically notes that she’s not at liberty to say.
