Animal Oscar Contenders: Ben Is Back
The family dog in Ben Is Back was not named Ponce on a whim. The name holds a dear place in director-screenwriter Peter Hedges’ heart, citing an early family outing where his young sons — Simon and Lucas, who plays the titular prodigal son in the drama — encountered a “completely wild-looking dog named Ponce.”
Lucas jokes how Ponce’s owners said at the time, “He’s just going through an ugly phase.” Peter claims that his sons are highly allergic to dogs, and when one of them started petting Ponce, “he just started breaking out all over his neck and face,” tears filling his eyes because they all knew they couldn’t take the dog home with them.
But the story has a happy ending. “Later, we got two dogs that they are not allergic to, or not allergic enough — slightly allergic but not enough that they can deny them,” Peter says.
