Bruce Cameron On ‘A Dog’s Purpose,’ Josh Gad, Screenwriting [Video Exclusive]

Bruce Cameron, author of The New York Times‘ bestseller book A Dog’s Purpose, spoke with uInterview in an exclusive interview about both the writing process and the screen adaption of his novel. The story follows the life of a dog from birth to death, and continues with his reincarnation through different dog breeds.

Cameron explained the inspiration behind his successful story. “I was dating this woman, her name was Catherine [Minchon],” Cameron told uInterview. “she had adopted a dog… and the dog died rather unexpectedly, and she was completely unprepared for how gut-wrenching the grief is… she said she would never ever have another dog.”

“I’ve always loved dogs,” Cameron continued. “So I wanted to come up with a way to try to communicate to her that what her dog really would’ve have wanted most was for her to have another dog… So I started telling her a story about this dog who reincarnates and remembers each life and eventually learns so much along the life’s journey that he figures out he’s got a purpose and whatever that purpose is must be fulfilled in order for this reincarnation to cease.”

That tale ended up being immensely successful — Cameron’s novel stayed on The New York Times‘ bestseller list for 49 weeks, receiving much critical acclaim. Cameron, however, has remained humble about it all.

“It was a tiny book, a small release…not a ton of money for the advance, and it opened on The New York Times‘ bestseller list. We didn’t see that coming…I was very pleasantly surprised,” said Cameron.

He admits, though, that adapting the novel for film wasn’t an easy process. “It’s mostly a process of throwing out things you really love… So it’s very painful,” he said.

The dog was voiced by actor Josh Gad, who was best known for voicing Olaf in Frozen. Cameron only has words of praise for Gad.

“He makes the movie. He so delivers on the premise of A Dog’s Purpose, which is that dogs are so joyful, so happy, so optimistic… Josh just absolutely nails that.”

Speaking of his favorite scene from the film, Cameron couldn’t help but gush.

“There’s a scene with the dog, it’s an aerial shot, the dog is running through real tall grasses, and the dog just has this boundless joy, as it’s leaping through the grasses. There’s something so beautiful about that — a dog off leash just having the time of his life,” explained Cameron.

The film will be released on Jan. 27, and is directed by Lasse Hallstrom and stars Dennis Quaid, Josh Gad and Britt Robertson.