However, Ayrshire has its own unique collection of unsung stars from some of the biggest shows to come onto our screens in recent times.
While they may not look like your typical ‘film stars’ the team from Scottish Animal Actors have played some vital roles across a vast range of TV shows, films, adverts and even theatre shows.
(Image: Scottish Animal Actors)
The agency, based in West Kilbride, was founded around two years ago by Danielle Scott.
She previously worked as an assistant director and has been on set for the filming of blockbuster hits during her time working in London.
However, throughout her career Danni has always trained animals “on the side for the fun of it” – something which eventually inspired a change in direction for her.
(Image: Scottish Animal Actors)
She said: “The more I was on film sets the more I realised that my animals can do all this same stuff – and it seems like more of a fun job, so I’ll give it a go.
“I came back home and started out doing it voluntarily from around the summer of 2022 for a few student films and then it took off from there once someone realised we were doing it.
(Image: Scottish Animal Actors)
“We got all the licensing we needed to do it properly and ever since then we have worked for Netflix, Amazon, the BBC and all sorts of things – now we are one of the biggest suppliers for animals in Scotland.”
Most recently, viewers would have seen some of the Scottish Animal Actors on Sky Drama show Lockerbie, with the agency supplying ‘police dogs’ for scenes filmed at Prestwick Airport.
(Image: Scottish Animal Actors)
But their best-known actor will undoubtedly be much-loved Still Game horse ‘Captain Dandy’.
(Image: Scottish Animal Actors)
And their range extends far beyond this having also provided dogs for Apple TV’s Debutante 2 and BBC’s Rebus, Sandy the Dog for a King’s Theatre production of Annie: The Musical and a ‘unicorn’ for a Dior fashion shoot.
(Image: Scottish Animal Actors)
It is not just dogs and horses either, with a number of other pets and farm animals starring in roles over the years.
(Image: Scottish Animal Actors)
Notably, Danni provided a parrot for BBC’s Dinosaur and helped source a domesticated fox for an as yet unreleased film called The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford.
(Image: Scottish Animal Actors)
She even supplied the chicken which many may recognise from the Scotland National Team’s Euro 2024 squad announcement.
(Image: Scottish Animal Actors)
She said: “We do all domestic animals, so farm animals and pets, we do insects as well.
“We do provide some wild animals if they have been domesticated but we work with their own specialist handlers.
(Image: Scottish Animal Actors)
“We provide almost anything they want – the only thing I can’t do is dangerous animals.
“That said, we will try our best to pull it off or put them in touch with the right people.”
(Image: Scottish Animal Actors)
Even with a vast list of hit shows on the agency’s CV, Danni says she still takes immense pride when seeing her actors – who are truly treated like movie stars – appearing on our screens.
(Image: Scottish Animal Actors)
She added: “It’s really cool seeing it come to life, we get a totally different view since we are so focused on the animal at the time.
“We know what is going on in the scene but a lot of times we don’t get the context.
“For the likes of Lockerbie we didn’t know what the story was, we just knew they needed police dogs to stand around in this airport scene.
“So when we see it on TV it puts it all together and it’s really cool seeing them – especially when sometimes it doesn’t come out for more than a year.”
(Image: Scottish Animal Actors)
Even away from filming, the actors are always keeping people entertained, with the agency also operating the Dark Horse Stunt Team who perform at galas and summer shows when not on set.
(Image: Scottish Animal Actors)
“We’re always busy,” Danni continued, “we’re always training, there is always something going on here.”
Those looking to see more of the work by Scottish Animal Actors can do so via their Facebook page at facebook.com/scottishanimalactors.
(Image: Scottish Animal Actors)