The Oscars 2024 was a star-studded affair as usual. The show stealer this time, however, was not an actor or a mind-blowing piece of outfit but Messi. And no, it was not Lionel Messi, the football legend. The show stealer at Oscars 2024 was Messi, the 7-year-old Border Collie who played a pivotal role in the Oscar-winner Anatomy of a Fall.
Despite media reports suggesting that the four-legged star won’t make it to the grand event, Messi was seen rehearsing his lines with the host of the night Jimmy Kimmel. Not only this, the canine star was also given a special seat at the event.
The viewers got to see Messi when he got a shout out from Kimmel in his opening monologue. “Even though he’s a dog, Messi may have given the performance of the year in Anatomy of a Fall. He has an overdose scene. I haven’t seen a French actor eat vomit like that since Gerard Depardue,” Kimmel said in his opening monologue.
The scene that Kimmel talks about in his monologue is the one where Daniel deliberately feeds Snoop aspirin and it has an adverse reaction. In Anatomy of a Fall, Messi plays Snoop, the guide dog to Daniel, a blind youngster who finds his father Samuel dead from an apparent fall from the open attic window. The film follows a murder trial where Sandra is the primary suspect in her husband’s death.
Besides the award, the Border Collie was also spotted at the Oscars Luncheon on February 12 where he met stars including Billie Eilish and Ryan Gosling. Commenting on Messi’s Oscar appearance, his owner and trainer Laura Martin Contini told USA Today, “It does take a lot of work to accomplish what looks natural on screen. (An Oscar) would bring attention to the profession itself.”
Contini also talked about the big moments from the award night. “The big moment was with Billie Eilish, who bonded with Messi for almost 10 minutes,” she told The Hollywood Reporter.
She further said that the two were seen hugging and “really had a vibe”. Bradley Cooper, who was last seen in Maestro, also met Messi in the hallway. The two, according to Contini, had an instant connection. Messi was also the highlight of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, where he won at the unofficial show Palm Dog.