Inspired by the beloved the beloved book character created by authorNorman Bridwell, the family adventure comedyClifford the Big Red Dogfollows middle-schooler Emily Elizabeth (Darby Camp) as she meets an unusual little red puppy that she just wants to take home and love. Very unexpectedly and literally overnight, Clifford turns into a giant ten-foot dog that no longer fits in a small New York City apartment and can’t go anywhere without everyone noticing, so she must enlist the help of her impulsive uncle Casey (Jack Whitehall) to figure out what comes next.
At the film’s virtual press day, Collider got the opportunity to chat with co-stars Camp and Whitehall for this interview, which you may both watch and read, about what attracted them to their characters, the difference between working with a giant red dog andDwayne Johnson(Whitehall was also inJungle Cruise), how their mutual obsession with the music of One Direction almost ended their friendship, the big car chase, and shooting the deli fight sequence.
Collider: I had so much fun with this movie. Darby, when this project came your way, what got you interested in doing it? Had you been familiar with this character at all, or was this brand new to you with the script?
DARBY CAMP: I definitely knew who Emily Elizabeth was and Clifford, of course. I loved the TV show when I was younger and the books. When I found out they’re doing a live-action, I was like, “This is gonna be really cool.” And then, I read the script and I was like, “This is perfect.” It’s a story about Clifford that no one’s heard before, but I think it’s something that everyone’s gonna love because it’s just a new addition to the classic story. And it was set in New York too, which is the perfect bit city for a big dog. I’m excited for everyone to see it.
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Jack, what did you like about uncle Casey? Was there anything particularly fun about playing him? Were there aspects of him that you hadn’t really gotten to explore in a character before?
JACK WHITEHALL: Yeah. He was so much fun to play, this slightly foolish man-child who’s in this perpetual state of arrested development. That was certainly the type of character that I could recognize an element of myself in. I really liked as well that he goes on a bit of a journey over the course of the film and he certainly matures and steps up to the plate, in terms of being a little bit more responsible and realizing that’s not as scary as he thought. Also, for me, the opportunity to play and to have those elements of physical comedy and those big comic set pieces, I absolutely love getting my teeth into. So, yeah, it was so much fun to play.
So then, who would you say is harder to work with, Dwayne Johnson onJungle Cruise, or Clifford, a giant red dog?
WHITEHALL: I would say that both have similar challenges. Clifford was, on set, operated by two puppeteers in this ten-foot animatronic red puppet Clifford. That’s what we were acting opposite. And onJungle Cruise, Dwayne is also a puppet. He’s operated by three guys in there on each other’s shoulders, and they operate the arms and stuff, and then they CGI him in afterwards. So, yeah, I’m now the go-to guy, if you need someone to act opposite CGI.
You guys, as a comedy duo, are absolutely delightful together. Did you form a bond with each other pretty instantly? Did it take some time to figure out that rhythm? I could watch the two of you guys together all day.
WHITEHALL: Well, I think what first helped us bond was that we realized we had a shared love of the musical oeuvre of One Direction, and so there was a lot of One Direction played. Whilst that started out as the thing that bonded us, in the end, it was also the thing that nearly fractured our relationship beyond repair because Darby had a penchant for playing One Direction at six o’clock in the morning in the makeup trailer. Whilst I love 1D and I’m very much a part of the fandom, at six o’clock, I think I’m possibly less of a fan than Darby is. Also, it was every day for three months. I maybe loved One Direction when I started this film, but at the end, I think I was possibly more into the Jonas Brothers.
CAMP: I like them too.
Darby, what is your side of this story?
CAMP: I’ll always be a fan of One Direction, no matter how much I hear their music. I mean, I guess it was six o’clock in the morning. From the table read, the day we met, we made fast friends. The whole set was just a fun, warm family. Everyone on the set, we all made fast friends. We still keep in touch to this day and talk every now and then.
WHITEHALL: And Darby’s mom and dad were on set, who I get on with very well, and that helped it feel like a family. And we kept my dad away from the set, which would have obviously not made it feel like family because he would be grumpy all the time and it would have been a real sour atmosphere. So, I made sure he wasn’t anywhere near the set, and that really helped.
Darby, could you have ever imagined that you’d be doing a car chase scene where you were the one driving, at your age?
CAMP: I never would’ve guessed. Ever since I was younger, I’ve always wanted to do a car chase scene. I just thought that was so great. I’ve always been interested in, ‘Wouldn’t it be so cool just to drive a car and go for it in a car chase?” I thought that was so cool. So, once I was finally a part one, I felt so honored and grateful that I got to do it. I was like, “Oh, my gosh, I’m gonna get to drive the moving van. Let’s go!” I don’t actually get to drive it. I get to sit in the driver’s seat and pretend like I’m driving. I was a little bit disappointed. But it’s okay because it was hooked up to this trailer, and then people would walk by on the street and look in the van and be like, “Is that a child in the driver’s seat of a moving truck?” And I’d be like, “Oh, yeah, don’t worry, it is.” I’m not actually driving, sadly, but for safety reasons, it was okay that I wasn’t driving. But I think that was one of my favorite scenes.
Jack, what was it like to get to shoot the big fight scene in the deli and pretty much pick up and throw anything you could at bad guys?
WHITEHALL: Yeah, that was so much fun. That was a scene that we spent a lot of time choreographing with the stunt department. It suddenly, in the middle of the movie, turns into a Jackie Chan film and it was great fun to shoot. They basically gave me free reign of that deli and said, “Use whatever props you’d like.” We really took that and ran with it. I even have my little homage to Salt Bae, which I threw in at the end of the fight as well, in the hope that Salt Bae sees it and, if I go and eat at his restaurant, I can get a 50% discount of his $700 steaks.
Did anybody get injured during that? What was that like to shoot?
WHITEHALL: Fortunately, no one got injured, but we were acting with props. It’s quite hard to injure someone when you’re attacking them with a pickle. There were a few mishaps, and I think it was a nightmare for the continuity department to try to work out what had been thrown and who had been hit with what, but it all edited together nicely in the end. It’s actually one of my favorite sequences in the film. It has Darby in the truck, and then me running away from the bad guys. We really enjoyed filming that scene.
Clifford the Big Red Dogis in theaters on November 10th, and available to stream at Paramount+.
