Sara Gruen gets a star turn in the film ver­sion of her novel Water for Ele­phants, now in post-production.

She got to meet stars Robert Pat­tin­son and Reese With­er­spoon. Just as thrilling was being lifted into the air by Tai the ele­phant, who depicts cir­cus ele­phant Rosie in the movie, due April 15.

“Her trainer told me to hug her trunk,” says Gruen, “so I did, and sud­denly I was 7 feet in the air. She gave me many kisses, prob­a­bly because I always carry mints for my horses, so I was slip­ping her candy every time I got a chance.”

Gruen, her hus­band and three sons were cast as extras in a scene in which the cir­cus per­form­ers and ani­mals parade down the streets in Wee­hawken, N.J.

“We retook that scene I think 18 times,” Gruen recalls. “I’m the one Rob Pat­tin­son (who plays vet­eri­nar­ian Jacob Jankowski) elbows past and says, ‘Excuse me, ma’am’ to.”

As for Christoph Waltz, who plays an abu­sive ani­mal trainer, Gruen says: “I watched a scene being filmed when he was ‘beat­ing’ Rosie. From the side of the road, it was very obvi­ous that he wasn’t going any­where near her, but from behind the bank of mon­i­tors, it was extremely convincing.”

Source: USA Today / Via