Entertainment

Carrie Fisher's Dog Watched 'The Last Jedi' & His Reaction Will Legit Make You Cry

by S. Atkinson
Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Considering they were the greatest of friends, it's easy to understand why Carrie Fisher's bulldog Gary reacted to The Last Jedi the way that he did. According to ABC7 reporter Veronica Miracle, the animal clearly recognized his mom while watching the movie and his ears pricked up, proving that Gary misses her as much as you do. Of course, this isn't the first time we've seen the French bulldog look transfixed by the actor's performance. An Instagram post in October 2017 showed Gary looking equally compelled by The Last Jedi trailer. But why was Gary the bulldog at The Last Jedi, anyway?

According to TMZ, the adorable pet went to Fisher's assistant Corby McCoin after Fisher's death, and McCoin has been taking the bulldog to public events so fans can feel closer to the former Princess Leia even after her passing. Fisher acquired her bulldog Gary around 2012, and, according to the late actor in an interview with NPR, she bought him "in New York in the village at a very tragic pet store."

In a 2013 interview with The Herald Tribune, Fisher revealed that Gary was her therapy dog — presumably to help with the bipolar disorder that she was constantly open and communicative about to raise mental health awareness. In the same interview, she waxed lyrical about their similarities and the way her pet helped her, saying, "Gary is mental also. My mother says Gary is a hooligan. Gary is like my heart. Gary is very devoted to me and that calms me down. He’s anxious when he’s away from me."

It wasn't long before the pooch started becoming famous, with The Washington Post reporting that Gary appeared alongside Fisher on the red carpet at events like the Cannes Film Festival as well as award ceremonies like the Oscar Wilde Awards in 2015.

But it wasn't all glitz and glamor. During a December 2017 interview on The View, actor Gwendoline Christie recently reminisced about the dog while the pair were doing press to promote The Last Jedi. The Games Of Thrones actor explained that, as a journalist was directing a question to Carrie, Gary passed wind. Instead of ignoring the moment, Fisher used it as an opportunity for comedy, Christie claimed, telling the room "I'm not going to ignore this, something just happened in the room.. .a dog fart... so strong you could hang a picture off it. In answer to your question about what I'm going to be doing between movies, I'm going to be hanging pictures off dog farts."

She was so proud of her dog, warts and all, that, in December 2015, Fisher even created an Instagram account for Gary the bulldog, and this social media account is still being updated (presumably by her former assistant). It's obvious that they had an extremely special bond. According to the same Washington Post piece, after Fisher suffered a heart attack on the plane that led to her death, Fisher's daughter Billie Lourd brought the bulldog with her when she went to visit her in hospital, presumably in a bid to make her mother feel better.

Heck, the pair even featured in the same movie together, which might explain why Gary was paying such close attention to the film in the tweet. Yes, out of love for his former owner, but potentially also out of narcissism, since he also stars in The Last Jedi.

According to Pop Sugar, Star Wars fan site Fantha Tracks were paying such minutely close attention to a movie still that was released that they saw an extra holding one very familiar looking alien in their arms in the background. When they asked director Rian Johnson if it was Gary, he confirmed it was on Twitter. If you want to catch the blink-or-you'll-miss-it-moment, you should pay special attention to a scene in the middle of the movie when Finn and Rose Tico visit a ritzy city in their bid to find a hacker.

Given all of the above, it's obvious that, like everyone else on this planet, Gary misses Carrie Fisher. Just try and watch that video without crying.