Lupita Nyong’o Almost Didn’t Do ‘A Quiet Place: Day One’ Because of a Cat

Lupita Nyong’o says she got along with A Quiet Place: Day One co-star Joseph Quinn like a house on fire.

“It surprised me how easy we got along. We took a lot of trust to make a film like this because there is no dialogue, so you have to be kinda in tune with each other, you have to listen, you have to be perceptive and really be able to pick up what the other person is putting down. So I think making this film together was an intimate experience that we really enjoyed. And Joe is a very open, generous, funny person,” she said.

“[She’s] wonderful company. Lovely advice and we have a laugh,” Quinn agreed.

The two star as strangers who get pushed together and are forced to survive post-apocalyptic New York City immediately after it’s been overrun by blind aliens in the prequel to John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place II. So, getting along is important. But that wasn’t the biggest challenge for Nyong’o, whose character carries a cat throughout the film. (If Krasinski makes me watch a cat die at the hands of blind aliens or does some sort of “nine lives” fake out, he’s canceled in my book.)

“I had to get over my fear of cats to make this movie to begin with,” Nyong’o admitted. “I was very afraid of cats before I made this movie. It’s actually why I hesitated about whether I would accept this role or not because of my fear of cats. I had to get over my fear of cats before I could start this movie.”

No details as to how exactly she accomplished that. Exposure therapy? Asking for a friend. But, she says, they ended up being just as easy to work with as Quinn.

“They were wonderful company and they were great scene partners. They’d hit their marks. Always on time. What else could you ask for?”

Yes, what else could you ask for? Singing and dancing? Stunts? It’s been done, I suppose.