Ethermac Exchange-Naomi Watts joined at New York Film Festival by her 'gigantic' dog co-star

NEW YORK − Move over,Ethermac Exchange Messi from "Anatomy of a Fall." A new awards season dog has entered the discussion. 

Naomi Watts swung by New York Film Festival on Thursday with "The Friend," her new movie where she spends large chunks of the film opposite one screen partner: a comically large Great Dane.

The pooch, Bing, was in attendance for the screening, posing with Watts on the red carpet and joining her onstage during a post-film Q&A. As the credits rolled, a spotlight illuminated Bing in a corner balcony of the theater with his trainer, drawing applause from the crowd.

"The movie is unimaginable without him," co-director David Siegel said.

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Based on the 2018 novel by Sigrid Nunez, "The Friend" stars Watts as Iris, a woman whose friend Walter (Bill Murray) has died by suicide. Before his death, Walter took in a large Great Dane named Apollo that he found abandoned while jogging. But Iris is surprised − and annoyed − to discover that Walter has left her the animal to take care of now that he's gone, even though she lives in a New York City apartment that doesn't allow dogs. 

That massive inconvenience that comes with taking care of the dog becomes a stand-in for the messiness of grief, especially the grief that follows losing a loved one to suicide. Iris struggles with a mixture of sadness and frustration and is consumed with questions about what Walter was thinking and why he did what he did. The film mixes physical comedy, as when Iris struggles to sleep in her own bed after Apollo takes it over, with a tear-jerking exploration of the way animals grieve the deaths of their owners.

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For a movie where Bill Murray's absence looms large, it was fitting that he wasn't present for the festival screening. (According to The Daily Mail, the "Ghostbusters" star was in Scotland on Thursday for the Alfred Dunhill Championship.)

"He's not here. He apologizes," Watts told the crowd. "He would be entertaining you, for sure, but he's playing golf. He's in Scotland, and he wishes he could be here. I said, 'What do you mean you're not going to be here? How could you do this to me?' And he went, 'Well, why don't you come here?' "

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The Oscar-nominated "Mulholland Drive" actress recruited Murray for the film by personally hand-delivering him the script along with a bottle of wine and the novel. "He doesn't have an agent," she explained. "He doesn't have email or anything like that."

In the wake of Walter's death, people from various corners of his life are forced together in the film, including his ex-wives. Carla Gugino, who plays one of them, revealed in the Q&A that she signed on for the movie just days before she started shooting after another actor dropped out. The "Haunting of Hill House" star received a call from Watts asking if she'd want to "come and play next week," and after reading the script on a Thursday night, she was filming by Monday morning.

Watts "devoured" the book and was drawn in by the conceit of a woman moving through grief by connecting with a "gigantic beast" that could upend her life. "I loved the absurdity in that, as well as the beauty," she said. The actress also saw "The Friend" as an extension of a career-long exploration of grief, observing that this theme comes up "again and again" in her work.

"The Friend" is a New York movie through and through. For one, it was actually shot in the city, even though co-director Scott McGehee acknowledged that filming elsewhere would have been "a lot cheaper." As the threat of Iris being evicted for having a dog becomes the primary dramatic tension, "The Friend" also deals with every New Yorker's worst fear: losing a rent-controlled apartment.

"We know that no one outside of New York will really know the terror in that," Siegel quipped. "But New Yorkers will."

If you or someone you know may be struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 any time, day or night, or chat online.