NATCHEZ — One of the stars of the upcoming James Brown movie to be filmed in Natchez is missing, and film officials need help finding the four-legged actress.

Director Tate Taylor and producer John Norris lost a four-month-old pitbull mix puppy Tuesday after five days of love and pampering.

Quinny, the dog, was originally found between Natchez and Washington on the side of the road with a phone cord tied around her neck.

“We’ve seen two or three dogs like that in Natchez, but they’ve all ran away when we tried to help,” Norris said. “I opened the door and went over to see if she was approachable, and she just immediately rolled over on her back and wanted me to rub her belly.

“She’s just the sweetest dog ever.”

Norris said he and Taylor rescued a dog during filming of the Academy Award-nominated film “The Help” and decided to name it Greenwood after the city where the crews were filming.

The dog eventually became such a loving member of the film crew that Taylor decided to give him his first acting role.

“He was in several scenes of ‘The Help,’ and it just kind of became this thing that every movie we make, we have a movie dog,” Taylor said. “The plan was to put Quinny in a few of the scenes at Nellie’s, and she was going to be the house dog there.”

Taylor said he and Norris have been searching since Tuesday all over Natchez to find Quinny.

“She just walked away from the house (Tuesday) and disappeared,” Taylor said. “I’m supposed to be working, but I’m out looking for Quinny because we just fell in love with this dog.”

Taylor and Norris asked Natchez residents to be on the lookout for Quinny, who is a light brown color and is wearing a red collar without a tag.

Anyone with information about Quinny’s whereabouts can text 615-708-4653 or send an e-mail to ccbrewer22@gmail.com.