‘He whinnied when he saw me,’ says Neeson as other actors claim horses they’ve worked with recognised them from previous film sets

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

In show business, the adage goes, never work with children or animals. But if you do have work with horses, apparently, there’s a chance they’ll remember you.

Liam Neeson this week bemused audiences in New York – and rallied other actors like Russell Crowe – with his claim that a horse on the set of his latest movie recognised him because they had previously worked together.

Neeson plays a travelling musician in the Coen brothers film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, and told a New York film festival event the horse who pulled his wagon fondly remembered him as an old workmate.

Horses in film: Why the long face? Read more

“I’m saying this horse knew me,” Neeson said, according to Page Six. “He actually remembered me from another western we made a while back … He whinnied when he saw me. And pawed the ground.

“I love animals. When we worked together before I took special care of him. I fed him treats. Gave him apples.”

While some were cynical, Crowe was quick to offer support, saying he formed a similar bond with two different horses, including one he met filming Gladiator.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Russell Crowe says he became ‘lifelong friends’ with Rusty the white horse while filming Robin Hood. Photograph: Allstar/Universal Pictures/Sportsphoto Ltd

“There’s a horse, George, who I gave the speech in the forest in Gladiator on,” he said on Twitter. “Years later he was on the set of Robin Hood and we would have a chat every day.

“Same with the white horse, Rusty, in Robin Hood. We chatted again on Les Mis. Lifelong friends.”

Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) This is absolutely true . There’s a horse George who I gave the speech in the forest in Gladiator on. Years later he was on the set of Robin Hood and we would have a chat everyday.

Same with the white horse Rusty in Robin Hood we chatted again on Les Mis. Lifelong friends. https://t.co/LqUxyfAymK

The Lord of the Rings star Viggo Mortensen also bonded so strongly with the horses on set that he bought two of them after shooting wrapped, and then also bought the horse he rode in his next film, Hildalgo.

Horses can recognise human emotion, new study shows Read more

He told Entertainment Weekly in 2004: “I did buy the horse. I thought about buying him all during the shoot.”

In 2009, he explained to the Guardian: “I met him and we got along well and I wanted to keep seeing that horse, so I bought him. He’s fat and happy and lazy.”

Viggo Mortensen bonded with his equine co-star on the set of The Lord of the Rings. Photograph: Allstar/New Line Cinema

Mortensen has also published a book of photographs called The Horse is Good.

Famously, Elizabeth Taylor also formed a bond with the horse from her breakout film, 1944’s National Velvet.

The horse, King Charles, frequently bit crew members, but was personally picked by Taylor after she rode it at her parents’ country club. After production wrapped, she was given him as a gift and kept him in a stable in California.