Ready for their close-up: How cats became Hollywood’s hottest stars

The most amazing thing about A quiet place: first day The idea is not to have aliens who can hear ultrasound and invade the world, but rather that a cat in such a situation would not immediately kill everyone nearby by tapping a delicately balanced glass on a table.

Cats are – and I say this with nothing but love and admiration – really stupid.

That’s why the internet loves videos of them so much. A feline flying through the air at the sight of a pea? They’re more hilarious idiots than evil geniuses Blofeld’s cat would have us believe.

But what if all this time we’ve been wrong to pigeonhole them into ridiculous clips involving keyboards and cucumbers?

The recent increase in the number of cats being hired for film and television roles suggests that traditional perceptions are changing and Hollywood Prejudice against dogs is dead.

Everyone wants to start a cat

From Alfie the Scottish Fold in Matthew Vaughn Argyllto Lucio the Maine Coon in Steven Zaillian “Ripley”These are cats who play heroes and complex supporting characters, no longer pigeonholed as evil sidekicks or scary horror movie characters.

In the brand new published A quiet place prequel, standout performances come from two tuxedo cats named Nico and Schnitzel, who together play Frodo, the emotional support animal of terminally ill Samira (Lupita Nyong’o).

Frodo, in typical dog fashion, is fiercely loyal to Samira. He sometimes runs away when there are loud noises, but always comes back. He helps his random companion, Eric (Joseph Quinn), find his medicine and manages to open our tear ducts with every lingering glance – did you know that cats actually have 276 distinct feline facial expressions? Daniel Day Lewis never could.

And ok, even if the cats’ performances are not Messi the dog-In-Anatomy of a fallThey appear to do their own stunts (even getting wet at one point) and have captured the hearts of moviegoers around the world.

“If Frodo doesn’t get nominated for an Oscar, I’ll never watch an awards show again,” read one impassioned response from hundreds of people on social media.

The risk of disaster

Although it is in many ways a brilliant decision to cast a cute cat in a leading role – and quite possibly the answer to all the questions box office woes — it was always a major gamble for the film’s writer-director, Michael Sarnoski (who previously worked with a pig named Brandy in his 2021 film Pig).

Cats are notorious for being difficult to be around due to their aloof personalities and penchant for doing the exact opposite of what is asked of them, out of seemingly malicious self-gratification.

Ray Berwick, who was responsible for training dozens of cats for the 1969 film The cat’s eyeonce admitted that it was more difficult than his work with the flock of feathered demons in Hitchcock’s film The birdswhile in 2019, “Game of Thrones” showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss “killed off” a ginger cat named Ser Pounce, in part because he was such a diva on set.

“Dogs will usually do what you ask them to do if they’re smart and well-trained. Cats have their own agendas,” Weiss said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

Fortunately, advances in CGI have made it easier to feature felines – omitting their use in the film adaptation of Catswho almost single-handedly ruined the reputation of an entire species.

But for Sarnoski, it was important to keep Frodo real in a film that emphasizes human relationships rather than the essentially scary tension of its predecessors.

“We did it because of incredible cat trainers and cat artists. Everyone thought we wouldn’t be able to do it the old way, but I’m really glad we did,” Sarnoski told The Hollywood Reporter.

Despite the fact that cats have been featured in movies for over a century—a Maltese kitten named Pepper was reportedly the first to be born on the California lot of Keystone Studios in 1912—there is still a notable lack of recognition for their cinematic contributions.

While canines win the Palm Dog Award at the Cannes Film Festival and Oscar guestCats miss the halcyon days of ancient Egypt.

May we suggest a Pussy Palm? A sort of golden feather on a stick?

When asked for her opinion, my Persian cat Gertrude looks incredulous and walks away after being refused a (highly unethical) bribe from Dreamies.

Who am I, kitten? They don’t care at all. Catnip and cardboard trailers will do.