A Quiet Place: Day One is making a decent buzz at the box office chronicling the first day of the alien invasion, the very scenario that was reflected in A Quiet Place franchise. The prequel stars Joseph Quinn and Lupita Nyong’o in the primary roles alongside Djimon Hounsou, and Alex Wolff. The movie, obviously, was designed to make it scary creating an apocalyptic scenario with utter chaos embedded with it. But as far as the fear is concerned, Lupita Nyong’o had to overcome her biggest fear for A Quiet Place: Day One.
Lupita Nyong’o Revealed Her Biggest Fear
Lupita Nyong’o in A Quiet Place: Day One. Image Credit: Paramount Pictures
Cinematic horror is not a new thing for Lupita Nyong’o. The actor has previously appeared in Jordan Peele’s 2019 psychological horror mystery Us. However, starring in A Quiet Place: Day One took a toll on her as the 41-year-old revealed that she was terrified of cats but she had no choice but to overcome her fear as director Michael Sarnoski was pretty insistent on it.
Of course, we have seen Nyong’o’s Sam with a cat in the movie however, getting close to the animal took quite a while for her to be easy. “Before I made this movie, I was terrified of cats,” Nyong’o told IMDb in a recent chat. “And have been my whole life. I’ve been suspicious of them. I don’t like– I didn’t like them. I didn’t want them anywhere near me. They would make me cry,” she added.
She was afraid of cats for her whole life but she had to encounter and be consistently close to the cat that we’ve seen in the movie.
Overcoming The Fear Of Cat
Lupita Nyong’o with a cat in A Quiet Place: Day One. Image Credit: Paramount Pictures
The actor was quite hesitant to get close to the cat but she wanted the role, “And then I wanted to play Samira in A Quiet Place: Day One,” she told IMDb. The director Michael Sarnoski who previously helmed Nicolas Cage starrer Pig, insisted that Nyong’o must overcome her fear of cats. “And Michael Sarnoski said, ‘It’s got to be a cat,’” she added.
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The actor further detailed how she eventually conquered her fear. “And so, I went about seeking the help I needed, getting cat therapy, you know, touching them with one finger and then three and then five and then my palm,” Nyong’o said. “And by the time we started shooting, I was able to successfully hold the cat without freaking out.” Adding more about the cats in the movie she said, “By the end of the movie, I was madly in love with Schnitzel and Nico.”
Dealing with the greatest fear of her life also changed the lifestyle of the actor, “And then I got myself a cat. So now I am proper, proper a cat lady.”
A Quiet Place: Day One is now showing in the theaters.
