When it comes to filming TV shows and films, a common refrain regards the difficulty of shooting with animals. Some animal lovers don’t care; for example, Taylor Cole, on the set of Hallmark‘s “Double Scoop,” loved the experience. “I love animals of all kinds, and I bottle-fed a calf, I milked a cow, I held a baby goat,” she told EntertainmentNow in 2025. While that may be true for some animals, Emilie Ullerup had a word of caution when it comes to one creature.
“They say don’t work with kids and animals, I say just don’t work with donkeys, honestly.” Ullerup told the “Rom-Com Love Podcast” about filming her rom-com “Missing the Boat.”
Emilie Ullerup Recounts Near-Disaster as Unruly Donkey Takes Flight
In “Missing the Boat,” which premieres on Jan. 31, Ullerup and Kristoffer Polaha play strangers who meet on the same cruise. When they both fail to get back on the boat after stopping at a port, hilarity ensues as they attempt to catch up to it. In one scene in particular, the duo used donkeys to travel. Ullerup said that she lost count of how many takes of the scene they had to do.
“They just kept rolling because I think we stopped yelling ‘cut’ and ‘action’ because there was no point,” the “Nature of Love” star admitted. “‘Cause that donkey was going to do what that donkey did.”
Hallmark“We have a scene where we’re riding the donkeys, obviously, and we had a drone, which is like a flying camera over us,” she continued. “And they forgot to tell us that my donkey was terrified of drones. So, anytime it came remotely close, it just starts taking off down this hill with a drop-off two meters to my left. And I was like, ‘I have no control of this donkey, and I just hung on for dear life.”
“I just kept yelling, ‘Get that drone away from us! ‘Get that drone away from us!'” she revealed. “And nobody could hear us because they were all so far away.”
Emilie Ullerup Called the Filming Moment ‘A Movie In Itself’
One aspect of the donkey scene that viewers might catch is the fact that Polaha’s character had a carrot to help keep his donkey from straying. Ullerup said that she was offered a carrot, as well, but she struggled to hold the carrot and guide the donkey.
“I couldn’t control the donkey and the carrot,” she said.
The “Catch of the Day” star can laugh about it now, recognizing that the donkey, the drones, and her yelling made the situation “a movie in itself.”
Darling story! Glad you were ok!!
Hilarious. Hope they got that on camera. Glad no one was hurt but you have to admit it was funny now.
Going to watch tonight, can’t wait. Love 2 actors and I LOVE DONKEYS, but never road on one.
I would love to see the outtakes on the donkey scenes!
Wouldn’t we all!