With A Quiet Place: Day One, actor Lupita Nyong’o revealed her biggest challenge while filming. And no it wasn’t dealing with the alien monsters or panicked crowds – It was a cat. While the Academy Award winner and Black Panther star had a pet Grey Mamba snake growing up… She’s always had a fear of cats.
In a Digital Spy interview with her and costar Joseph Quinn, Nyong’o shared details on not only overcoming her fear of felines but also learning to love them. First, she read the script and loved the character, story, and director (Michael Sarnoski). But, “The cat, that was the sticking point for me,” said Nyong’o, “I actually tried to get him to change the animal. He was like, ‘No it has to be a cat’. Because I wanted to play the role, I had to get over my fear of cats. I went through cat therapy. They brought me cats to my home.”
Nyong’o continued, “It started with two, and the first day, they just let the cats roam around me, and I asked the woman who brought the cats questions about why they were doing certain things. The next day, I touched one with one finger and slowly, slowly I got comfortable enough to hold a cat through this film.”
After Nyong’o was no longer scared cats… She was ready to act scared all day on set, saying, “I actually remember when we started doing this film and once the invasion had happened and we had to act scared, I was like, ‘Oh my god’. I had amnesia about how much energy it takes to act scared all day. It’s very exhausting, but in the end, it’s very rewarding when it works. I didn’t learn my lesson, and that’s why I came back [to the horror genre].”
This follows Nyongo proudly appearing with her feline costar, Schnitzel, for the red carpet premiere.
And after filming wrapped and her fear behind her, Nyong’o ended up adopting a cat!
