--- title: Oscars: 'Anatomy of a Fall' Dog Messi Steals Show During Awards Season description: Messi appeared twice during the Academy Awards ceremony: seen seemingly clapping from his seat during Jimmy Kimmel’s opening monologue and then peeing on Matt Damon’s Hollywood star to close the show. canonical: https://time.com/6899626/academy-awards-messi-dog-anatomy-of-a-fall-kimmel-prank/ author: Koh Ewe article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-03-11T07:50:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:50:31.877Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Oscars: 'Anatomy of a Fall' Dog Messi Steals Show During Awards Season og:description: Messi appeared twice during the Academy Awards ceremony: seen seemingly clapping from his seat during Jimmy Kimmel’s opening monologue and then peeing on Matt Damon’s Hollywood star to close the show. og:url: https://time.com/6899626/academy-awards-messi-dog-anatomy-of-a-fall-kimmel-prank/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb9b5bfffc4dbc47d/698a494b929fad6830bfb25c/Messi-Dog-Oscars-2024.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 96th Annual Academy Awards - Show og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Oscars: 'Anatomy of a Fall' Dog Messi Steals Show During Awards Season twitter:description: Messi appeared twice during the Academy Awards ceremony: seen seemingly clapping from his seat during Jimmy Kimmel’s opening monologue and then peeing on Matt Damon’s Hollywood star to close the show. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb9b5bfffc4dbc47d/698a494b929fad6830bfb25c/Messi-Dog-Oscars-2024.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Messi, the _Anatomy of a Fall_ Dog, Caps Show-Stealing Awards Season With Oscars Prank > Sponsored content. 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The show took off from there, with The Holdovers' Da'Vine Joy Randolph securing the first win of the night for Best Supporting Actress._ by [Koh Ewe](https://time.com/author/koh-ewe/) ## Koh Ewe Koh Ewe (Koyu) was a reporter for TIME based in Singapore. Mar 11, 2024 7:50 AM UTC  Messi, the dog, appears seated in the audience during the Academy Awards in Hollywood on March 10, 2024. Messi, the dog, appears seated in the audience during the Academy Awards in Hollywood on March 10, 2024.Kevin Winter—Getty Images by [Koh Ewe](https://time.com/author/koh-ewe/) ## Koh Ewe Koh Ewe (Koyu) was a reporter for TIME based in Singapore. Mar 11, 2024 7:50 AM UTC For months, Messi—not the [soccer player](https://time.com/6342417/athlete-of-the-year-2023-lionel-messi/) but a 7-year-old border collie—has stolen hearts for his riveting portrayal of Snoop, a service dog for a blind boy, in the French legal thriller [_Anatomy of a Fall_](https://time.com/6323274/anatomy-of-a-fall-review/)_._ And on Sunday night, as Hollywood’s biggest stars packed into the Dolby Theatre for the Academy Awards, Messi stole much of the show with his dapper grin and polite applause for the award nominees. Sporting a black bow tie, Messi was shown in videos seemingly clapping among the star-studded audience during [the opening monologue](https://time.com/6899127/oscars-2024-monologue-jimmy-kimmel/), a moment that quickly went viral. > [](https://twitter.com/PopBase/status/1766989104276008980) The clip, however, appears to have been [pre-recorded](https://twitter.com/chrissgardner/status/1766953640143802863) in a tedious operation that involved fake paws and what some have speculated is a lookalike dog. (Messi’s trainer Laura Martin posted a [photo](https://www.instagram.com/p/C4W%5FxNAr3UU/?img%5Findex=1) of her holding the fake paws in front of the Dolby Theatre after the ceremony, and it’s not clear whether Messi was able to attend the actual ceremony, which he was previously [reportedly set to skip](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/messi-anatomy-of-a-fall-dog-oscars-academy-awards-1235845408/).) But the stunt has only fueled the fervor for Messi, who has just wrapped up a breakout awards season during which he served as a fan-favorite mascot for _Anatomy of a Fall_, which won Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars. **Read More:** [_The Best, Worst, and Most Memorable Moments of the 2024 Oscars_](https://time.com/6899349/oscars-2024-recap/) It all started at the Cannes Film Festival last May, when Messi was given the Palm Dog, an unofficial prize recognizing the best canine performance—a notable win in an [extra competitive year](https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/anatomy-fall-border-collie-fetches-cannes-palm-dog-fiercest-contest-yet-2023-05-26/)—while _Anatomy of a Fall_ took home the Palme d’Or, the coveted top official prize. Since then, attention on Messi has surged in Hollywood, taking even his trainer by surprise. “There were a few interviews in France,” Martin [told](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/messi-anatomy-of-a-fall-dog-oscars-academy-awards-1235845408/) the _Hollywood Reporter_ in February, “but what we’ve been experiencing here in America—with the attention to this dog and his acting—it’s beyond anything we anticipated. It’s probably the maximum that you can accomplish in this field.” > [](https://twitter.com/TheAcademy/status/1757511710729236639) During his travels to Los Angeles over the past few weeks, Messi got down to serious business. In February, he [attended a live reading](https://youtu.be/DEZpOxCDgJk) of the _Anatomy of a Fall_ screenplay, where he reprised his role as Snoop, opposite guest stars like Bob Odenkirk and Olivia Wilde. Then, he hobnobbed with more celebrities [at the Oscars nominees lunch](https://www.avclub.com/messi-anatomy-of-a-fall-snoop-oscar-luncheon-dog-1851252042) in February, spotted interacting with Bradley Cooper, Billie Eilish, and Ryan Gosling. (His appearance, however, stirred disgruntlement among other companies, which argued that the canine’s attendance gave _Anatomy of a Fall_ an advantage over other nominated films during the Academy Awards voting window, [according to the _Hollywood Reporter_](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/messi-anatomy-of-a-fall-dog-oscars-academy-awards-1235845408/).) Before the Oscars ceremony began on Sunday, the show’s host Jimmy Kimmel sat down with Messi to run through his lines, as shown in a promotional [video](https://www.instagram.com/p/C4WIqGXPrWk/?hl=en) posted on Kimmel’s Instagram account, with Messi barking—seemingly in approval—at a joke about dog years. Messi also made time to help Kimmel continue his [famous feud with Matt Damon](https://time.com/4473441/jimmy-kimmel-matt-damon-feud-history-timeline/), with a short video aired at the very end of the ceremony showing Messi peeing on Damon’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. > [](https://twitter.com/LEBassett/status/1767014651315847393) Messi’s next role is [reportedly](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/feb/17/messi-dog-anatomy-of-a-fall-interview) in a French television show, but he seemed to be getting used to the Hollywood lifestyle. When he was not rehearsing, networking with other A-listers, or participating in celebrity pranks, Messi was seen [enjoying Venice beach](https://www.instagram.com/p/C3TgVRyPO9I/). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6899626/academy-awards-messi-dog-anatomy-of-a-fall-kimmel-prank/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6899626/academy-awards-messi-dog-anatomy-of-a-fall-kimmel-prank/"},"headline":"Messi, the Anatomy of a Fall Dog, Caps Show-Stealing Awards Season With Oscars Prank","datePublished":"2024-03-11T07:50:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:50:31.877Z","description":"Messi appeared twice during the Academy Awards ceremony: seen seemingly clapping from his seat during Jimmy Kimmel’s opening monologue and then peeing on Matt Damon’s Hollywood star to close the show.","url":"https://time.com/6899626/academy-awards-messi-dog-anatomy-of-a-fall-kimmel-prank/","keywords":["awards","overnight","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb9b5bfffc4dbc47d/698a494b929fad6830bfb25c/Messi-Dog-Oscars-2024.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Koh Ewe","jobTitle":"Koh Ewe (Koyu) was a reporter for TIME based in Singapore.","url":"https://time.com/author/koh-ewe/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb9b5bfffc4dbc47d/698a494b929fad6830bfb25c/Messi-Dog-Oscars-2024.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"96th Annual Academy Awards - Show","caption":"96th Annual Academy Awards - Show","creditText":"Kevin Winter—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/awards/","name":"awards"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6899626/academy-awards-messi-dog-anatomy-of-a-fall-kimmel-prank/","name":"Messi, the Anatomy of a Fall Dog, Caps Show-Stealing Awards Season With Oscars Prank"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Best, Worst, and Most Memorable Moments of the 2024 Oscars","description":"Beginning an hour earlier than usual, at 7 p.m. ET, the 96th Academy Awards kicked off with an opening monologue from four-time host Jimmy Kimmel that set the tone for the evening ahead: celebratory, politely humorous, and glam as usual. 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