Strays director explains the movie’s funniest cameo

Stray is a hilarious new comedy that features the vocal talents of Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, and Isla Fisher as adorable dogs. But the movie also includes a very funny live-action cameo, and director Josh Greenbaum told us how it came about.

Strays is the funniest film of the year thus far. It stars Will Ferrell as the voice of a dog called Reggie, whose owner hates him. So-much-so that he drives him to a town three hours away from his home, and abandons Reggie there.

The poor pooch soon makes canine friends in the shape of Bug (Jamie Foxx), Maggie (Isla Fisher), and Hunter (Randall Park). And when Reggie realizes how horrible his owner has been, he vows to take revenge.

So starts an incredible journey as the four dogs work their way back to Reggie’s home. And along the way a famous face appears onscreen. So if you don’t want that cameo spoiler, click away now!

Strays director on movie’s funniest cameo

While walking through a field, two of the dogs are grabbed by an eagle who flies away with them. Strays then cuts to a bird-watcher who can’t believe his eyes. And that bird-watcher is Dennis Quaid, playing himself.

We spoke to director Josh Greenbaum about the cameo, and he explained how it came about: “Dan Perrault – the writer – and I had added a whole sequence where the eagle picks up the dog. And I said to Dan wouldn’t it be funny if we cut out wide to a bird-watcher? He’s looking for birds, then all of a sudden, he sees an eagle carrying a Border Terrier who’s carrying a Boston Terrier.

“I thought about who should play this bird-watcher, and we were always looking to the dog movies that we were subverting, and gently poking fun at. Dennis has been in several of these wonderful films, like A Dog’s Purpose and A Dog’s Journey. As, by the way, has Josh Gad, who also has a cameo as the voice of the Narrator Dog.

“We reached out to Dennis and I thought that he’s either going to be upset that we are making fun of him, or he’ll totally get it. And he got it. He loved it. He showed up – he very luckily happened to be in Atlanta at the same time as us when we were filming, and he showed up on set and he was a joy. He’s just so funny. He played it very straight, and we felt very lucky to have him.”

Casting Sofia Vergara as Delores the Couch in Strays

Another actor who makes an unexpected appearance in Strays is Sofia Vergara, who voices a couch that Bug has relations with. According to Greenbaum, the former Modern Family star was also an easy get.

Greenbaum said: “We called and reached out to her team and said, ‘Hey, would you be interested in playing a filthy, foul-mouthed couch who one of the dogs is in love with?’ Again, she’s so funny – you can tell when people have a great sense of humour. She just said, ‘Yeah, all in.’ She jumped in and had a ton of fun with voicing Delores the Couch.”

Strays is in cinemas now, while you can check out more movies coverage here.