Jacob Elordi and Margaret Qualley might be navigating the end of the world in their new film The Dog Stars, but making their on-screen relationship feel believable involved plenty of work together away from the cameras.
The pair hit the red carpet in London last night for the world premiere of Ridley Scott's new post-apocalyptic thriller, alongside co-stars Josh Brolin and Guy Pearce. And ahead of the film landing in cinemas, Jacob revealed that he and Margaret spent time off set working through the script together to make their characters' connection feel as natural as possible.
"Margaret and I actually, all of us, spent a lot of time not on set, kind of with the script and trying to sort of personalise it and chop and change it and make it sort of more real to ourselves," Jacob explained at a press conference ahead of the film's release.
"And Margaret and I worked on that relationship and tried to sort of, you know, inject some reality into those moments, I guess."
He was also full of praise for Margaret, adding: "She's such a great actress and such a great collaborator."
Honestly, we love a supportive co-star moment.
Directed by Ridley Scott and based on Peter Heller's bestselling novel, the film takes place in a post-apocalyptic world after a devastating pandemic has wiped out much of humanity.
Jacob plays Hig, a pilot who has carved out an isolated existence with military survivalist Bangley, played by Josh, and his beloved dog Jasper. But after picking up a mysterious radio transmission, Hig begins to wonder if there might be something – or someone – beyond the life he knows.
His search eventually brings him to Cima, played by Margaret, and her father Pops, played by Guy, with The White Lotus's Allison Janney and 3 Body Problem star Benedict Wong also among the seriously stacked cast.
And while working opposite Margaret sounds like a dream, Jacob also had some slightly furrier scene partners to contend with. Apparently, the secret to getting the best performance out of a dog is less fancy Hollywood training and more… sausages.
"They respond way better to cold cuts and things like that than traditional treats," Jacob revealed. As for the old warning about never working with children or animals? Jacob wasn't buying it.
"I liked it very much," he said of working with the dogs. "I mean, no more unpredictable than working with Josh or Guy – in a good way, in a great way."
He added that their spontaneity was "wonderful", before giving perhaps the most important review of all: "They’re such talented dogs."
One of those very talented dogs even joined Jacob at the London premiere, making for arguably the cutest red-carpet date of the night.
So, to recap: Jacob, Margaret, Ridley, a post-apocalyptic romance and scene-stealing dog? Consider us seated.
The Dog Stars arrives in UK and Irish cinemas on 26 August.
