Toni Collette felt connected to equine co-star in Dream Horse

Toni Collette fell in "love" with her equine co-star Beau when shooting 'Dream Horse'.

The 48-year-old actress stars in the movie as Jan Vokes, a woman who sets up a racing syndicate in a Welsh village to buy and train Dream Alliance, an unlikely racehorse that went on to win the Welsh Grand National.

Toni admits that she and her animal castmate Beau – who plays Dream Alliance in some of the film's scenes - developed a strong connection.

Speaking to Baz Bamigboye for his column in the Daily Mail newspaper, she said: "I'm in love with Beau. He's my acting dream!

"He looks at me, totally connects and knows what to do."

Toni also described the experience of working with Beau as "quite profound" because the horse was so "gentle and mellow".

The 'Hereditary' actress also recalled her mixed time with the animals, having been dragged along a beach by a horse in the past.

Toni said: "I was dragged along the beach with my foot stuck in a stirrup. Luckily, there was sand, so I escaped serious injury."

However, she also recalled a "spiritual moment" when surrounded by 30 horses at a friend's home in Ireland.

Collette said: "It was like we were all sharing this same vibe."

The Australian star recently suggested that the film, which also stars Damian Lewis, was being released at the perfect time amid the gloom of the coronavirus pandemic.

Toni said: "There couldn't be a better time for this kind of story.

"This story lights people up, because pandemic or no pandemic, people always have tragedy. Life if full of ups and downs, and this just is the most beautiful story about people coming together and succeeding, you know? It has a huge, huge beating heart."