I Am Legend was among the movies that helped Will Smith establish his reputation as a drаmаtic actor in the middle to late 2000s (forming a sort of canon alongside films like The Pursuit of Happyness and Seven Pounds), but as we all know, the real star of the post-apocalyptic sci-fi movie was someone else.
The dog is correct.
The best parts of the movie were undoubtedly those starring Smith as Robert Neville and his devoted German Shepherd, Sam, who was given to him by his daughter when she was a puppy and perished in a helicopter аccident. They were, at times, very upsetting, but also frequently poignant and humorous.
It may be helpful to know that Sam’s actual life tale is far, much happier before you break down in tears thinking about how that narrative ended (spoiler alert: not well, if you haven’t seen it).It turns out that even though the movie was released more than a decade ago, Abbey, the dog that portrayed Sam, is still alive and well.Even better, she continues to reside with her trainer’s family, Steve Berens, who told LADbible that the 13-year-old dog is currently enjoying retirement with his daughter and her children.”She’s older now and she doesn’t hear hardly anything,” he stated to us.”But she’s still kicking, she still likes a ball and likes a bоne.”Since film executives asked him to locate and train a female German Shepherd for the role of Sam, Abbey has “always been part of the family,” according to Berens, the owner of Animals of Distinction, an animal training organization.He clarified, saying
, “That was a really short transition—we got her in the middle of July and went to camera around the end of September. She had no training background and was genuinely ignorant.”She received direct training for those scenes in addition to a lot of the fundamentals required for film work.”At first, it was somewhat stressful, but she really clicked with me. She is a wonderful dog who picked everything up quickly.”Described as ‘wonderful’ by Berens, Abbey was also a huge fan of her human co-star.Speaking about working with a lot of actors, he said: “A lot of actors view the animal as something that the audience will be looking at instead of them. They’re not that interested in the animal.However, Will was nothing like that. He realized that this was his co-star, and he was genuinely interested in and invested in it. It was a pleasure working with him.”I believe that the difference was that she truly liked him. One aspect of the movie that I was extremely proud of and content with, in my opinion, was the strong bond.”Indeed, there were even whispers that Smith wаnted to take over Abbey; while Berens wouldn’t have opposed it outright, he was a little leery of the idea.”Kind of through the channels he had mentioned that, but he didn’t really sаy that directly to me,”
he said.”I didn’t want that to end badly since, as you may know, a lot of these celebrities fall in love with their co-stars and then quickly move on to the next project.Maybe if he had approached me personally, but I’m not sure. You build quite a relationship when you practice and spend so much time with someone. She has lived with us and among our other pets for the all of our lives.
She’s simply always had a significant role in our family.”According to Berens, Abbey’s training continued even after she scored several tiny roles following I Am Legend. “She had little things here and there, nothing of much substance or really identifiable,” he stated. She has only ever been a family dog and pet otherwise.”Some larger organizations have a slightly higher turnover rate. Since we’re a smaller business, the circumstances are a little more intimate. She’s currently in the front yard, you know.”
