Indy, the real-life dog of director Ben Leonberg, plays the canine protagonist in last year’s Good Boy, a horror movie uniquely told from the perspective of the pooch. Can a dog give one of the best performances of the year? According to the Astra Film Awards, Indy did just that.
The 9th Annual Astra Film Awards took place in Los Angeles this past Friday night, and Good Boy‘s Indy took home the award for “Best Performance in a Horror or Thriller”!
Who did Indy beat to take home the award, you might be wondering? Indy beat out human actors including Ethan Hawke, Alison Brie, Sophie Thatcher, and Sally Hawkins.
Here’s the full breakdown of the Astra Film Awards 2026 category…
Best Performance in a Horror or Thriller:
- Indy the Dog – Good Boy as himself – WINNER
- Alison Brie – Together as Millie Wilson
- Ethan Hawke – Black Phone 2 as The Grabber
- Sally Hawkins – Bring Her Back as Laura
- Sophie Thatcher – Companion as Iris
- Alfie Williams – 28 Years Later as Spike
Wikipedia explains, “Nominated for Best Performance in a Horror or Thriller for his performance in Good Boy, Indy the Dog’s nomination made film award history, as Indy is now the first canine to be nominated for a major film acting award that had previously recognized only human talent. Indy ultimately won the award, making further history as the first animal to win a major film acting award. Though not in attendance, the film’s director and owner of Indy, Ben Leonberg, accepted the award via an acceptance speech video, with Indy by his side.”
Ben Leonberg admits in the video (which you can watch below) that Indy is “being recognized for his work in a movie that he doesn’t understand he was in.” As Leonberg explained to Bloody Disgusting last year, “It surprises a lot of people to learn that Indy only knows a handful of tricks and commands—his ‘performance’ isn’t created through conventional training. Instead, it was about being ready with the camera in the right place at the right time, and coaxing him using a combination of everyday commands, weird sounds, physical gestures, and food. Once those moments were edited together, they created the illusion of a performance.”
“The ‘scary‘ scenes were always the most fun for Indy and the most creatively fulfilling for me,” Leonberg continued. “What looks like frightened barking or paralyzing fear onscreen is, in reality, Indy staring down a treat or a tennis ball just off camera that he really wants. (And which he got as soon as we ‘cut’). Thanks to the magic of filmmaking and juxtaposition of disparate shots, the audience projects their own emotions onto those puppy-dog eyes.”
Good Boy is now available on VOD outlets and streaming on Shudder.
You can see the full list of 9th Astra Film Awards winners on Wikipedia.