Common came to love military dogs while filming ‘Megan Leavey’

LOS ANGELES — Oscar winner Common laughed when asked his history with dogs prior to acting in “Megan Leavey” (opening Friday) which tells the true story of the title character and her relationship with her U.S. Marine combat service dog in the war in Iraq.

“I have to admit, I wasn’t a dog person that much before I got involved in this project. But I’ve always loved what people do at the animal shelters around the country — like the PAWS shelter in Chicago, which I know is a no-kill shelter,” said the Chicago native.

“However, after working on this film, I got to love dogs — particularly German Shepherds [featured in the film] even more. More importantly, I came to respect them for what they do serving our country.”

That said, the rapper and actor admitted, “compared to my fellow actors, like Kate [Mara, who plays the title role] and Ramon [Rodriguez], I was not the best — to say the least! — when it came to training the dogs.”

In the movie, Common portrays Sgt. Gunny Martin, a composite character who overseas the Marine’s military police dog school at Camp Pendleton near San Diego. “Even though, in the film, I’m not seen doing any dog training, I felt it was important to learn how they do it. I needed to add that to my repertoire, to make it look like I understood what the troops under me had to accomplish,” added the actor.

In addition to all the canine preparation, Common explained that he spent a lot of time talking to real Marines “to better understand what that culture is all about. … I talked to a number of people, including a good friend of mine from Chicago who is a Marine. Plus we had consultants on the set. All of them made me understand that the process of becoming a Marine means you learn not to lose your individuality, but to blend it into a unit — to become unified to best serve our country and your fellow soldiers.”

Both Common and co-star Rodriguez noted that they came to deeply respect the Marines and the dogs who are their combat partners, both of whom take great risks to help protect their fellow soldiers.

“You have to realize, those men and women and their dogs have some of the most dangerous jobs in the military,” said Rodriguez. “They go out far ahead of their platoons to search for the IED explosives. It is so dangerous, and the Marines obviously depend deeply on their dogs. The relationship between human and dog is essential.”