Lupita Nyong’o reveals she had therapy to overcome fear of cats for new horror role
Lupita Nyong’o has detailed the unusual way she prepared for her new role in the post-apocalyptic horror film A Quiet Place: Day One.
Nyong’o stars alongside Joseph Quinn and Djimon Hounsou in the upcoming horror film where an alien invasion takes over New York.
The actor, 41, had “cat therapy” to get over her phobia of the animal because her character in the A Quiet Place prequel has one as a pet.
Nyong’o admitted she even asked the film’s director, Michael Sarnoski, to change her onscreen pet from a cat to a different animal but he refused.
Speaking to Glamour magazine, Nyong’o said she needed to “learn a lot” about herself and cats before she was “comfortable” to take on the role.
“I asked the director Michael Sarnoski if there was any way that we could change the animal. I suggested an armadillo; he was not having it,” she said.
The Oscar winner revealed she eventually warmed to cats while on set, to the point where she got one as a pet after her break-up from TV host Selema Masekela.
“I guess the best antidote for when you feel poorly taken care of is to take care of something. And I took care of Yoyo and he pried my heart open,” she said.
“My cat shows me how to relax. He lies there all day. Every so often he’ll get up and he’ll do that cat stretch. And it’s so elegant and it’s so yummy, he reminds me to get up and stretch.”
Nyong’o publicly announced she had split from Masekela in October 2023 because she found the prospect of having to tell people “one at a time” to be too “harrowing”.
“I had made the choice to share the relationship with the world, and I wanted to make the choice to share the end of it with the world,” she explained.
The actor dated the TV host and sports commentator since October 2022, with the pair going public with their relationship that same month.
Throughout their relationship, the couple would often post about each other on their social media pages. However, Nyong’o said she won’t be as public with her personal life as she once was with Masekela.
“There is a time to be open and there’s a time not to be, and I chose that time to be open,” Nyong’o said.
“I’m very happy with what I did, and I don’t want to do it anymore. I don’t want to share that part of myself anymore.”
