Did you know Will Smith wanted to adopt the dog, Sam, from his film 'I Am Legend'?

In the 2007 post-apocalypse action thriller, I am Legend, actor Will Smith played the role of the last man alive on earth. In the movie, he had a dog named Sam as his only companion. Things don’t end well for Sam in the film as he was bitten by infected dogs. Off the camera, Will was very enamoured by the German Shephard, whose real name is Abbey. He wanted to adopt Abbey and keep her with himself, but unfortunately, the dog’s trainer was not very keen on the idea. He refused to let go of Abbey and Will was left heartbroken.

When Will Smith fell in love with his furry co-star

Will Smith was definitely smitten by Abbey during the filming of the movie. In an interview with Today, he said, “I love that dog.” He spoke about him begging the crew members to let him keep the dog but unfortunately, that wasn’t how it was supposed to be. He jokingly said, “But you know she has her own family, so it was just another one of those fleeting Hollywood romances." Will Smith even went on ‘dates’ with Abbey before the filming started just so that they can both get comfortable with each other and get to know one another well. The movie’s animal trainer found Abbey in a kennel. She looked the part but was not trained for filming. It took him few weeks to get her up to speed with the shooting.

Abbey helped Will Smith overcome his reserved nature towards dogs during the filming of the movie. The actor told Today that he had stopped getting close to the canine animals because of an incident that happened during his childhood. He was around 9 years old when his dog got hit by a car and that resulted in him distancing himself from dogs. Although he did not get to adopt Abbey, he surely overcame his hesitation towards dogs.

I am Legend featured well-known actors like Emma Thompson, Dash Mihok, Alice Braga, and many more. It was well-received by the audience and critics and did exponentially well both domestically and internationally.

Image: I Am Legend trailer/Youtube