Lucky Seven.
The greyhound lives in Acworth, one of a half-dozen sleek beauties Jennifer Bachelor and her husband, Stephen, have adopted. In addition to sharing a leisurely life with fellow greyhounds Maddie, Allie, Stacker, Reagan and Riley, Seven shares star billing with Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Anthony Mackie and Tony Shalhoub in “Pain & Gain.”
The movie based on journalist Pete Collins’ articles in the Miami New Times, about bodybuilders who conspire to bilk their rich clients, opens Friday.
Shalhoub plays Victor Kershaw, a businessman kidnapped and tortured by his former personal trainer. Seven plays Victor’s beloved racing dog, Tasty Reuben.
“It was really more of a mental preparation than physical,” Shalhoub said of preparing to play Victor, who gets bound, beat up, run over and even set on fire. “I had a stunt double. Unfortunately, I didn’t use him as often as I could have or should have. I learned a valuable lesson.”
Known for years as a phobia-ridden detective in the quirky USA show “Monk,” Shalhoub relished an opportunity to play a different sort of role.
“It’s kind of a departure for me,” he said. “I was kind of curious to explore what it was who gave this guy his inner toughness. How he survived this is miraculous.”
Although his character is devoted to his pet, Shalhoub didn’t actually get to meet Seven.
“I was dealing with a different kind of animal,” he quipped. His character gets knocked around a good bit by the meatheads played by Wahlberg and Johnson.
Bachelor, the dog’s owner, did get to meet Mackie and Wahlberg, her “teenage heartthrob.” The production company contacted her after Seven competed at a dog show.
“I got called on a Saturday afternoon. They were shooting on Tuesday in Miami,” Bachelor said. “It was like, ‘Would you be interested in doing this?’ I was like, ‘Of course, there’s no way I am going to be there on Tuesday.’ Sure enough Monday morning, I was driving to Miami.”
Seven was uniquely suited for the role because she has been so carefully trained.
“You typically don’t take greyhounds off-leash,” Bachelor said. “There’s only a handful of them where people train them. (The movie) needed one that could run loose outside on the street.”
Given all the filming happening in Atlanta these days, she’d be open to other acting gigs for her pets. For now, she’s happy for Seven and grateful to Southeastern Greyhound Adoption, the group she adopted her from two years ago.
“Most of the time, they are just a good house pet,” she said. “They can learn to do other things. It’s neat to be able to show them off.”
