(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Ricky Gervais has joked the canine star of his new movie will die if people don't go to see it.

The actor voices pooch Argonaut in Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D. He loved working with the dog, who didn't have a permanent home before he appeared in the picture. Ricky is pleased the movie was able to help the pet and hopes the dog's movie career continues.

"There was loads of reasons [to do this film] really. Partly flattery Robert Rodriguez is a great director, he did From Dusk Till Dawn, which is very different to this. This is a kids' film. I must say I'm not the star of this it's the dog, it is the cutest dog ever," he said on UK television show This Morning. "He's a rescue dog, they were going to put him down and the film saved him and turned him into a star. So kids if you don't go to see this film we are going to put him down we're not! We're not. That's not true."

Ricky laughed that working with the pooch was great as he made no demands. While the actor received a handsome wage for his part in the release, the dog was paid in biscuits.

"That's the beauty of it," Ricky joked.

The star is currently working on his new show Life's Too Short. It stars Warwick Davis as a fictional version of himself who is trying to get his life back on track after a series of setbacks. Much like Ricky's series Extras a great many celebrity cameos can be expected, with Helena Bonham Carter, Liam Neeson and Johnny Depp all appearing.

"I email them and say how would you like to work for very little money, near Slough with a director that ruins every take with laughing?" Ricky explained.

"Sometimes they're quite flattered. They're working actors. They want to get their hands dirty, be insulted and do something different." (C) Cover Media