Following up on his brilliant video essay “The Art of Dog Acting (which we previously featured) YouTuber Alex Boucher is back with a look at a much more challenging subject: the world of feline performers. As his new video, “The Art of Cat Acting,” brilliantly explains, there’s a very good reason why the cat in a movie often just… sits there. Unlike their canine counterparts who live to please, cats operate on a simple principle: they do what they want. This independent nature makes them notoriously difficult to direct.
So how do filmmakers achieve those rare moments of genuine cat action? The answer lies in a fascinating history of clever casting, strategic training, and a whole lot of movie magic…
The most legendary “cat actor” in history was a tabby named Orangey, credited with over 500 roles in the 50s and 60s, including the iconic “Cat” in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The studio built a myth around Orangey as a “miracle cat,” a stray who became a star. But the truth was a carefully guarded secret: the original Orangey died before his first film was even made. The “Orangey” seen on screen was actually dozens of different, identical-looking cats, each trained to do one specific trick: one to jump, one to hiss, one to run.
This multi-cat method remains the industry standard. Trainers don’t force a cat to act; they cast cats that already enjoy the required behavior. Motivation isn’t praise, it’s food, with trainers using buzzers and treats to coax a performance. Some trainers even use jealousy, bringing out a double to motivate the lead cat to hit its mark for a reward.
Modern filmmaking has added a new layer of illusion. Green screens are now essential, allowing a cat to “act” in a calm, controlled environment without the stress of a chaotic film set. In the Tom Hanks movie A Man Called Otto, a remarkable 70% of the cat’s scenes were actually green screen composites. For anything truly impossible, CGI and animation step in, with animators often studying real cats to bring digital felines to life, as was famously done for Toothless in How to Train Your Dragon.
The video also gives a big shoutout to OwlKitty, the viral YouTube cat you’ll recognize from appearing in iconic movie scenes. And it had cameos of Tonic, the rescue turned horror movie star.
