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Ricky Gervais has paid tribute to his canine co-star Anti on Wednesday after her death aged 13.
The Vislor Antilly, known to most people as Brandy, the comedian's loyal sidekick in Netflix's After Life, passed away peacefully at her home in Oxfordshire.
Ricky uploaded a photo of himself and Anti sat on a park bench, from the series, to share the news with fans on X.
He wrote: 'Sad News. 'Anti', who played 'Brandy' in AfterLife, has died. She was 13 and a very good girl.'
The actor later added in a statement: 'This is such sad news. Anti was a beautiful soul. We hit it off straight away and she helped make After Life my favourite filming experience of all time.
'I’m so glad that I told her a hundred times a day that she was a very good girl.'
Ricky Gervais has paid tribute to his canine co-star Anti on Wednesday after her death aged 13
The Vislor Antilly, known to most people as Brandy, the comedian's loyal sidekick in Netflix 's After Life, passed away peacefully at her home in Oxfordshire
In 2018, Anti was cast personally by Ricky as Brandy, Tony Johnson’s (Ricky) trusty companion.
The black comedy-drama, which premiered in 2019, follows the story of newspaper journalist Tony who is struggling to come to terms with the death of his wife Lisa (played by Kerry Godliman).
The show hit the Number 1 spot on Netflix’s most-watched programmes around the globe.
Anti gained worldwide fame, causing Ricky to have to repeatedly promise fans on social media that 'the dog does not die' in the run-up to every season, earning the title of 'The World’s Most Famous Dog' for her role as a faithful friend to Tony and helping him deal with the grief of the loss of Lisa.
In 2022, Anti's owner revealed she is showered with the same levels of affection at home where she is treated as the 'queen of the family'.
Owner and trainer Ash Foster, who has had her since the day she was born, told the Daily Mail, that Anti remained dedicated to her work on film sets – where she has impressed the likes of George Clooney, Tom Cruise and Martin Clunes.
But when at home the dog loves nothing more than settling down on the sofa to watch Netflix, snacking on cheese and sipping tea with oat milk.
Mr Foster said of Anti: 'I delivered her into the world. I had her mum and I was there when she was born. She's lived with me my whole life.'
Ricky uploaded a photo of himself and Anti from the series and wrote: 'Sad News. 'Anti', who played 'Brandy' in AfterLife, has died. She was 13 and a very good girl'
The actor later added in a statement: 'This is such sad news. Anti was a beautiful soul. We hit it off straight away and she helped make After Life my favourite filming experience of all time'
In 2022, Anti's owner revealed she is showered with the same levels of affection at home where she is treated as the 'queen of the family'
He added: 'She's as much a part of my identity as my wife at the minute. She is very special to me. She is basically the queen of the family. Almost worshipped in our house.
'At home she just wants to get on the sofa and watch Netflix with you.
'She is very active when we take her out, she likes to swim, we go cycling on our bikes and she'll run alongside the bikes. You can take her to the pub.
'She's always been a perfect dog. How she is on After Life is how she is at home.'
Ricky, who has written, starred in, directed and edited all seasons, struck up a friendship with Anti after picking her off a website to be his character Tony's beloved pet dog.
Speaking about the pair's relationship during filming, Mr Foster said: 'It's been quite a beautiful thing.
'Recently they've released a lot of trailers of just him [Gervais] and her [Anti] together with Queen's Your My Best Friend song, when you look at things like that it's quite sad.
'I like to think of it as the perfect time capsule of her, I know she's never going to die in After Life but when she does go that's going to be the thing I remember her by.'
Anti – whose full name is Antilly – is well practised in appearing on screen, having started her career aged just two.
Anti was born in April 2011 in Herefordshire, at the home of Vislor Dog Training Centre.
She became part of a four-legged family that had already appeared on the silver screen – both of Anti’s parents, also raised by Vislor trainers Travis and Ashley Foster, appeared together with Bane's henchmen in Christopher Nolan's $1bn blockbuster Batman: The Dark Knight Rises in 2012.
She earned her first taste of fame alongside Tom Cruise in Doug Liman’s Edge of Tomorrow in 2014, going on to appear with Michael Fassbender in Trespass Against Us and George Clooney in The Midnight Sky, who then went on to cast Anti in his 2023 release The Boys in the Boat.
Her work in TV included BBC’s The Capture alongside Holliday Grainger and Ron Perlman, ITV’s Doc Martin, where she performed stunts with Martin Clunes, Britain’s Got More Talent with David Walliams, and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.
Her final stunt on camera was released in July 2024, season 23, episode 2 of Midsomer Murders, The Debt of Lies, playing a retired police dog who detains the murderer before retiring in real life from film and TV at 11 years old.
English (US) ·