All week long I’ve been sharing insider details about Disney’s Lady and the Tramp live action film! Today’s exclusive interview is with Thomas Mann (“Jim Dear”) and Adrian Martinez (“Elliott the dog catcher”). In case you missed my tour of the set while in Savannah, Georgia, head here!
I was invited as media to cover this event. All opinions are my own.
Disney’s Lady and the Tramp Jim Dear & Dog Catcher Interview
Myself along with 9 other lucky ladies joined the cast and crew during the taping of Disney’s Lady and the Tramp last November. Below we captured a behind the scenes picture with Thomas Mann who plays Jim Dear in the film. When asked about how he became involved with the movie, Thomas shared, “I only had to go in one time to audition, which is always a blessing. They already had kind of an idea of who
they wanted Jim Dear to be. And then I got the part, so I was totally, totally thrilled to be a part of The Lady and the Tramp legacy…it’s a huge deal. And I never worked for Disney before, either.”
Thomas added that this take of the film is different than the original 1955 animated version, sharing, “So it allows me and Keirsey specifically to kind of flesh out our characters more so than they were. You catch little glimpses of them in the animated version. But you don’t really get to know who they are as people. And [with] this one they’re still supporting characters. It’s still all about the dogs. But you get better
sense of who they are and you get a better sense of their personalities.”
What’s it like working with the animals? Thomas mentioned, “Well, it just depends on the day. You know, they don’t know they’re at work! Which is the crazy thing you have to keep in mind. We’ve gotten so much time to kind of bond with them offset. And while we were doing rehearsals we got to just spend a lot of time playing with them and getting to work with the trainers.”
Meanwhile, Adrian who plays the dog catcher in the film has a tougher time because he’s a big animal lover and has a dog of his own, but he sort of has to be the bad guy in this film. He shared, “They took me to a kennel to work with [Tramp] 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. The trainer, not the dog. [LAUGHTER] But it was great just a wonderful experience working with the animals, so it was really cool.”
When asked about filming Disney’s Lady and the Tramp in Savannah, Adrian shared, “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. We filmed in Wright Square and they set it up – 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 storefronts and everything. And then you put on the costumes done by Colleen Atwood who’s won four Oscars and it’s just like oh my god, I’m in nineteen ten!”
About the film:
In Disney+’s “Lady and the Tramp,” a timeless re-telling of the 1955 animated classic, a pampered house dog and a tough but lovable stray embark on an unexpected adventure and, despite their differences, grow closer and come to understand the value of home.
“Lady and the Tramp” premieres on November 12, 2019, streaming only on Disney+
Stay tuned to one more exclusive post tomorrow – this time with the Director and Producer of the film!
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