Alison Brie was home without husband Dave Franco when something unusual appeared on their back patio. Her first call to Franco made the situation sound considerably more dramatic than a typical lost-pet encounter, there was a “dinosaur” outside.
The unexpected visitor was actually a bearded dragon. Brie offered the reptile lettuce, watched as the couple’s cats studied it from behind a glass door and eventually decided there was a good chance somebody nearby was missing a pet.
She was right. After Brie posted a photo on a neighborhood forum, the animal’s owner came forward. Franco said Brie then learned the bearded dragon, named Little Boy, had been missing for about two months and had somehow ended up roughly a mile and a half from home.
Franco told the story during his Sept. 24 appearance on the show, while EW also reported the unusual reunion.
Brie Called Franco to Tell Him There Was a ‘Dinosaur’ Outside
Dave Franco is explaining how his wife, noted cat person Alison Brie, reunited a long-lost bearded dragon with its owner after the reptile wandered into their backyard. https://t.co/esGrBfcP50
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) September 24, 2026
Franco was out of town when Brie discovered the reptile. He recalled her contacting him with the announcement, “We have a dinosaur on our back patio.” Brie initially did not know where the animal had come from, so she tried feeding it lettuce while deciding what to do next.
Max and Otis, the couple’s cats, watched the bearded dragon intently through a sliding glass door. Franco joked that they were “a little perturbed” by the visitor.
Brie eventually shifted from feeding the reptile to trying to identify where it belonged. Franco said she concluded, “I bet this is someone’s pet,” and posted a photograph on a neighborhood forum.
Little Boy Had Been Missing for About Two Months
Someone recognized the animal from Brie’s post and identified it as their missing bearded dragon. That was when Brie learned how long Little Boy had apparently been away.
Franco said the reptile had left its owner about two months earlier and ended up around a mile and a half from home. “It was on this odyssey,” Franco said, according to the official transcript. Once Brie connected with the owner, she returned Little Boy and learned his name.
Max and Otis Had Front-Row Seats to the Rescue
For Franco and Brie’s cats, the episode involved considerably less detective work and considerably more staring. Max and Otis are already familiar to people who follow Franco’s interviews. He has repeatedly discussed his enthusiasm for cats and even won PEOPLE’s 2025 “Sexiest Cat Dad” readers’ poll.
Speaking with PEOPLE last year, Franco recalled that before meeting Brie he would tell dates he had “36 cumulative pounds of cat” waiting for him at home.
Those cats at the time were Harry and Arturo. Franco now shares Max and Otis with Brie, and the two animals frequently appear when he talks about the couple’s home life.
Franco and Brie Protect Their Sundays for Movies, Doughnuts and Their Cats
He told Barrymore that acting schedules force the couple to spend significant stretches apart, so when they are both home they try to protect Sundays for each other. The ritual usually involves staying in, eating doughnuts, watching multiple movies and letting the cats pile onto the bed.
Franco had described virtually the same routine in an August interview with the L.A. Times. He said Sunday is a day they intentionally reserve for being together and described doughnuts as an important weekly ritual.
His recent comments to E! News sounded equally low-key. Franco said his ideal night now consists of being in bed with Brie and the cats, watching two movies and going to sleep by about 9:30.
Franco Was Promoting ‘Forgotten Island’
Franco’s Barrymore appearance was tied to his new animated movie Forgotten Island, which opens in theaters Sept. 25. DreamWorks lists Franco among the voice cast as Raww, a well-meaning but hapless weredog who joins best friends Jo and Raissa after they become stranded on the mythical island of Nakali.
The film draws heavily from Filipino mythology and culture. Reuters reported that directors Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado built the story around folklore they grew up hearing and the Filipino women who shaped their lives.