Ricky Gervais has honored his “beautiful” on-screen dog who appeared in his TV show After Life.
The British comedian and actor described Vislor Antilly, also known as Anti, as a “beautiful soul” and mentioned they bonded immediately.
Gervais mentioned that the German shepherd made After Life his “favorite filming experience of all time” and he appreciated telling her “a hundred times a day that she was a very good girl.”
Antilly portrayed Brandy the Dog in all 18 episodes of the Netflix comedy series focused on local newspaper reporter Tony, played by Gervais, who is coping with his wife’s passing.
In the show, which aired for three seasons from 2019 to 2022, Tony is frequently seen walking Brandy, who prevents him from committing suicide.
A post on Antilly the Wonder Hound’s Instagram account stated: “Vislor Antilly, After Life’s Brandy, has sadly passed away. We already miss her terribly. Sleep well xxx.”
She passed away peacefully at her home in Oxfordshire at the age of 13.
‘Such sad news’
Reacting to the news, Gervais expressed: “This is such sad news. Anti was a beautiful soul.”
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The dog also appeared in blockbuster movies such as Tom Cruise’s Edge Of Tomorrow, Michael Fassbender’s Trespass Against Us, and George Clooney’s The Midnight Sky.
She was featured in TV shows like The Capture, Doc Martin, Britain’s Got More Talent, and 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown.
Her final on-screen performance was in July last year in the Midsomer Murders episode The Debt Of Lies, where she played a retired police dog who apprehends the murderer before retirement.
After that, Antilly retired from the film and television industry.
‘Animal actor and stunt performer’
Born in April 2011 in Herefordshire, at the home of West Bromwich-based Vislor Dog Training Centre, Antilly was raised by trainers Travis and Ashley Foster, who appeared in Sir Christopher Nolan’s Batman: The Dark Knight. She visited them on set when she was 10 weeks old.
Her Instagram bio stated: “Vislor Antilly is an animal actor, stunt performer, and charity advocate. She played Brandy in After Life by Ricky Gervais and has a very silly tummy.”