Jessie Buckley set the record straight last night during an appearance on The Tonight Show. The Oscar nominee has been facing backlash after she shared seemingly negative feelings about cats, but told Jimmy Fallon that it’s quite the opposite.
“I woke up this morning to the world thinking that I really don’t love cats and it’s really weighed on me all day,” she admitted on the show. She went on to reveal that she even auditioned to play one in the infamous film version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.
“I gave the worst audition of my life. How would you be a cat?” she posed, noting that she had a difficult time with the physicality. “I’d done one audition with [director] Tom Hooper and then I got called back for a movement session with Wayne McGregor, who’s like the head choreographer of the Royal Ballet. He’s got this incredibly sleek, terrifyingly minimalist studio. And when you don’t know how to be a cat in the first instance, when you’ve got nothing around you… It was so hot. I was sweating. I was like, licking my paws. I was trying to make leaps. This guy is so beautiful and lith, and I’m just a hoof of an Irish woman leaping across and licking her paws. Obviously, I didn’t get it.”
It is unknown which character Buckley auditioned for, but the movie, released in 2019, would ultimately star Jennifer Hudson, James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, Rebel Wilson, and Royal Ballet principal dancer Francesca Hayward.
Meanwhile, Jessie Buckley has been receiving accolades for her performance in Chloé Zhao’s 2025 film Hamnet, including a Golden Globe Award and an Oscar nomination. She was most recently seen onstage in the West End production of Cabaret, for which she won an Olivier Award. Buckley first rose to recognition as a finalist on the Oliver! reality competition series, I’d Do Anything. She has been seen on the West End in Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music and at The National Theatre in Romeo & Juliet. Her notable screen credits include Wild Rose, The Lost Daughter, Women Talking, and Fargo. Her latest film, The Bride!, is now playing in theaters.
