Photograph: Craig Blankenhorn/© 2023 WarnerMedia Direct, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
At least someone came out well from the hate-watchable mess which was And Just Like That. And we don’t mean Kim Cattrall reportedly taking home $1m for her 71-second comeback cameo. No, the Sex and the City sequel’s real winner was Carrie Bradshaw’s cute kitten. Sarah Jessica Parker has announced that she has adopted the adorable puss who played her on-screen pet.
The much-maligned Che Diaz – who, when they weren’t cracking awful gags or hosting implausible podcasts, volunteered at an animal shelter – gave Carrie a rescue kitten. Naturally, the Manolo-mad heroine named it Shoe. Rather than Catty Bradshaw or And Just Like Cat, either of which would’ve been better.
On Instagram, SJP confirmed that she has adopted the fluffy feline in real-life, too. “His off-camera name is Lotus,” she wrote. “Adopted officially by the Parker/Broderick family in April. If he looks familiar, that’s because he is.”
Parker isn’t the first actor who couldn’t bear to part with their furry sidekick when filming wrapped. Here are more screen stars who became so attached to their four-legged friends, they went on to adopt them …
Sophie Turner’s dire wolf
Turner made her Game of Thrones debut as flame-haired Winterfell princess Sansa Stark aged 14. While filming the fantasy saga’s first season, she took a shine to Zunni, the Mahlek Northern Inuit dog who portrayed Lady, Sansa’s pet dire wolf. When Lady was killed off (blame Cersei and Joffrey), Turner persuaded her parents to rehome Zunni. Not everyone on the production was sad to see the dog depart. “Zunni was a terrible actor,” admitted Turner. “Really bad on-set and wouldn’t respond to calls. They were ready to fire her.” Don’t get her started on those diva dragons.
David Dastmalchian’s super-cat
During the shooting of DC’s 2021 superhero sequel The Suicide Squad in Panama, a stray street kitten kept wandering up to Dastmalchian – AKA the scene-stealing Polka-Dot Man – between takes. He befriended and adopted the lost feline, naming her Bubblegum (full name: Abner Bubblegum Polka Dot Cat). Costume designer Judianna Makovsky even made her a miniature superhero suit. Dastmalchian said Bubblegum was “a blessing to our family and was instrumental in helping us through the pandemic”.
Brendan Fraser’s freckly horse
Giddy up, George of the Jungle. In the 2015 western miniseries Texas Rising, Brendan Fraser spent much of the shoot on horseback. He grew to love his trusty steed Pecas, a grey Percheron gelding whose name is Spanish for “freckles”. As Fraser said: “He was my acting partner and I wanted to do well by him.” When filming wrapped, he bought the horse and took him home to his family. Pecas developed a deep bond with Fraser’s teen son Griffin, who is on the autism spectrum. “He’s part of our family now,” said the actor.
Paul O’Grady’s dog pack
The late comedian hosted ITV’s For the Love of Dogs for 11 years, during which he adopted five pooches. In his penultimate series, O’Grady broke his contract to rescue another. He had put in a clause which stopped him taking any more hounds home, knowing he would be tempted. That was forgotten when he spotted a stray wire-haired dachshund called Sausage. The first time they met, O’Grady admitted he was in “the danger zone”. “How are you with other dogs?” he asked Sausage. “That’s the fatal question.” After taking her home for a week’s foster care, he admitted that Sausage never left, much to viewers’ delight.
Tiffany Haddish’s kitten
SJP is so last season. Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele’s 2016 comedy Keanu was about the kidnapped titular kitten – played by seven lookalike felines borrowed from local animal shelters. Co-star Tiffany Haddish grew so attached to the cats that she adopted one when production wrapped, changing its name from Clementine to Catatonic (“because when you hold her long enough, she goes catatonic”). She grew up into a strapping tabby and pops up regularly on Haddish’s Insta grid.
Liz Taylor’s highly strung racehorse
While filming 1944 classic National Velvet aged just 12, Elizabeth Taylor formed a close bond with her horse, The Pie. The temperamental thoroughbred, real name King Charles, would bite everyone on-set – except Taylor, who he treated gently. MGM Studios gave her the stallion as a wrap gift. Taylor later recalled: “He was given to me on the last day of shooting. It’s a memory that I cherish. There never was a sweeter, more noble animal. Caring for him was a great source of happiness. My heart still swells when I think of him – and I still do, often.”
Sylvester Stallone’s half-shelled heroes
Perhaps Rocky Balboa was shouting “Amphibiaaaan!”, not “Adriaaaan!”. When the Italian Stallion invited shy pet shop worker Adrian (Talia Shire) over to his apartment in the 1976 boxing flick Rocky, he introduced her to his pet turtles Cuff and Link. A full 42 years later, Stallone posted an Instagram pic of the same red-eared slider turtles, saying his “original buddies” had been with him ever since. They can live beyond 50 if well looked-after. Cuff and Link might just outlast the 77-year-old action hero.
Viggo Mortensen’s entire stable
The animal-loving actor hasn’t just adopted one horse from his film sets, he has adopted three. As Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, he was borne across Middle-earth by bay horse Brego (played by Uraeus) and chestnut-coloured Hasufel (played by Kenny). He bought both, so “they could have a buddy”. On his next film, western epic Hidalgo, Mortensen spent so much time riding paint pony TJ, who played the eponymous mustang, that he ended up taking him home, too. It’s become a horsey habit. Imagine the hay bills.
