Goodyear 12-year-old takes the lead in feature-film debut

By Steve Stockmar
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At 12 years old, Rylie Pennington already knows one of the peculiarities of making movies: Your co-star doesn’t always follow the script.

Especially when your co-star is a dog.

“The dog was very unpredictable, but in, like, the best way,” the Goodyear eighth-grader said. “I would train him to do something for the filming, and he would go completely off script. But it just made it all the more natural.”

Pennington will make her feature film debut this fall as the lead in “Not My Dog,” an 81-minute family film written and directed by Danny LeGare. She plays Bridget, a stubborn 12-year-old whose ordinary errand across her small town becomes something considerably bigger when a stray German shepherd begins following her and refuses to leave.

It’s a considerable first movie credit. The cast includes veteran actors Eric Roberts, Dan Lauria, Jeremy London, Robert Ri’chard and Marika Dominczyk.

“Not My Dog” was filmed over 17 shooting days in February 2025, primarily in the Rockville section of Vernon, Connecticut, not far from where Pennington and her family were living at the time. Much of the movie was shot outdoors just after a snowstorm, with locations including neighborhood streets and parks, a local barbershop, and the historic mill complex that houses the New England Motorcycle Museum.

“When I first read off the cast list, I was really nervous because even I’ve heard of these people before,” Pennington said. “I couldn’t believe I would get to work with them.”

The nerves didn’t last.

“Everyone was just so welcoming, especially as a newcomer for me,” she said.

Pennington’s path to the screen began with music. She started singing around age 3, encouraged by her musician father, and moved into theater productions around age 7. By about 10 she was auditioning for film roles and appearing in commercials. Previous work with LeGare ultimately led to an invitation to play Bridget.

The transition from stage to screen brought surprises. Pennington had to adjust to filming scenes out of sequence and discovered how different the multiple camera takes felt from live theater, where performers get one chance in front of an audience.

Film also offered room to experiment.

“Danny had an idea of how he wanted me to say the line, so we would take it that way,” she said. “But then I had an idea of how I wanted to say the line, so then we would take it again and pick which one we liked more. So it’s very collaborative.”

Jeremy London and Rylie Pennington work a scene in “Not My Dog,” which was filmed in 2025 in the Rockville section of Vernon, Connecticut.

(Courtesy of Trash Panda Pictures)

Rylie Pennington talks about the making of “Not My Dog” while at her Goodyear home in Estrella Mountain Ranch on Aug. 14, 2026.

(Independent Newsmedia/Steve Stockmar)

The production allowed Pennington’s two performing worlds to meet. She sings “Unlikely Friends,” the film’s theme song, with Broadway performer Analise Scarpaci, who wrote it.

“I just loved that I got to incorporate that in this,” Pennington said. “It felt very special.”

Now living in Estrella Mountain Ranch in Goodyear after her family’s recent move from Connecticut, Pennington is back in school, writing songs, performing music with her dad, and submitting self-taped auditions. Being in Arizona has put Los Angeles tantalizingly within reach.

Her first feature, though, answered a more immediate question.

“I feel like this is really going to be the make or break, whether or not I want to do this,” Pennington remembered thinking before filming began.

The verdict?

“This even pushed me further into wanting to go into the acting industry.”

“Not My Dog” is scheduled for digital release Sept. 11 on Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, and Fandango at Home, with availability on Tubi and Xumo also planned. Pennington will get another first later this month when she travels to New York City for the film’s Aug. 31 red-carpet premiere in Manhattan.

Steve Stockmar can be reached at sstockmar@iniusa.org. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@inusua.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.

Steve Stockmar
News Editor | Sun Life Magazine & Arts & Entertainment YourValley.net

sstockmar@iniusa.org

Meet Steve
Steve Stockmar joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2017, and has been an Arizona journalist for almost 30 years. He serves as editor of Sun Life Magazine and contributes to West Valley communities where he focuses mostly on arts & culture, education, and profiles of neighbors making a difference.

Community: Every season Steve serves as a “buddy” with the Miracle League of Arizona in Scottsdale, has volunteered his time with Family Promise in Glendale, and previously served on the Ghostlight Theatre board in Sun City West.

Education: Graduated from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff with a Journalism major and English minor.

Random Fact: Steve once won a 50-player live Texas Hold ’Em poker tournament.

Hobbies: Anguishing over his beloved Chicago Cubs and Bears; listening to Beatles and Grateful Dead music.