Animal Oscar Contenders: The Favourite

Director Yorgos Lanthimos needed a lot of rabbits for his royal satire starring Olivia Colman as Queen Anne. “The rabbits in our film were central to the story, as they symbolize the painful loss of Queen Anne’s 17 children,” says producer Ceci Dempsey. “At first, we were concerned they’d be all over the place, but they were actually quite content and calm and completely trainable.”

To prepare one particular rabbit named Winky, who has a memorable moment with Emma Stone’s character toward the end of the film, Dempsey says “weeks of treat-filled and gentle training” were used to get the job done.

At any given time, there were up to 17 rabbits on camera. “The rabbits won over the entire crew and cast,” adds Dempsey. “They are the sweetest, cuddliest animals and love attention. We all became very protective of them, and each of us had our favorites. Everyone seemed very fond of Winky and Strawberry in particular.”