The Oscar-winning actress adopted Yoyo after bonding with feline co-stars on the set of ‘A Quiet Place: Day One.’
Lupita Nyong’o didn’t hesitate when asked if she wanted to rename her newly adopted cat. “Absolutely not,” the A Quiet Place: Day One star, 41, tells PEOPLE about keeping the name Yoyo, given to him by the Best Friends Adoption Center.
“I would never have named him Yoyo,” she admits, “and it’s such a perfect name.”
Nyong’o, who previously considered herself more of a dog person, developed a love for cats while filming the horror prequel—where she starred alongside feline actors Nico and Schnitzel. “I had been afraid of cats,” she says. “This film forced me to learn about them. In the process of playing pretend, I actually fell in love.”
The Black Panther actress was so taken with her co-stars that she later adopted Yoyo during a difficult personal period. “I just had a little voice saying, ‘Get a cat,’” she recalls. “I have not regretted it.”
Now, Yoyo has become an irreplaceable companion. “I’m way less lonely with my cat, and he pried my heart open,” Nyong’o says. When she introduced him on Instagram last October, she wrote, “It may look like I saved Yoyo, but really, Yoyo is saving me.”
She also praises cats for their independent nature, noting their strong personalities. “They take care of themselves,” she says. “They remind me of me.”
A Quiet Place: Day One, in theaters now, stars Nyong’o alongside Joseph Quinn in a harrowing battle for survival amid alien invaders. But off-screen, her life is decidedly more peaceful—thanks to Yoyo.
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