8 Celebrities Who Adopted Their Furry Co-Stars
Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw with "Shoe" aka Lotus.
In Hollywood, the saying goes that you don't want to work with kids or animals. They're unpredictable, hard to control and many of them smell. But sometimes, the four-legged actors (if not the children!) actually manage to win over their human co-stars. Here are 8 celebrities who adopted their furry scene partners.
1. Sarah Jessica Parker and “Shoe” aka Lotus
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In Season 2 of And Just Like That, Carrie becomes the owner of a tabby cat, whom she fittingly names Shoe. In real life, actress Sarah Jessica Parker adopted the animal actor, whose birth name is Lotus, from the Connecticut Humane Society. "He and his siblings were all given botanical names when they were rescued as newborns," Parker wrote on Instagram. "Adopted officially by the Parker/Broderick family in April 2023."
Lotus sure did get a happier ending than Carrie and Aidan!
Related: What We Know About the Next Season of 'And Just Like That'
2. Taylor Swift and Benjamin Button
Taylor Swift is the proud owner of three cats, the third of whom she met on the music video for her song “ME!” from her album Lover. Swift shared heartwarming behind-the-scenes footage of the first time she laid eyes on Benjamin. “Hi, honey. You’re beautiful,” she says. It would appear the feelings of adoration were mutual, because her new furry friend immediately started to purr.
Related: A Guide to Taylor Swift's Purr-fect Cats
3. Sophie Turner and “Lady” aka Zunni
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The 2011 pilot episode of Game of Thrones saw each of the Stark children receive a direwolf. But only one cast member, a then-14-year-old Sophie Turner (who played Sansa Stark), decided to take hers home. "Growing up I always wanted a dog, but my parents never wanted one," Turner explained. "We kind of fell in love with my character’s direwolf, Lady, on set. We knew Lady died [in the premiere] and they wanted to re-home her. My mum persuaded them to let us adopt her." (On the show, Lady is put to death after an altercation with GOT antagonist Joffrey.)
Sadly, the Northern Inuit dog, named Zunni outside of the show, reportedly died in real life in 2017.
4. Peri Gilpin and Moosie
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Moose the dog was one of the most famous animal actors of all time, having played Eddie on Frasier for seven seasons. When it became clear that Moose was going to need to retire before the end of the series (which ran for 11 seasons), efforts were made to breed him. Those efforts resulted in three puppies—Enzo, Miko and Moosie. While Enzo was ultimately chosen as Eddie’s replacement, Frasier actress Peri Gilpin, who played Roz on the show, fell in love with Moosie and gave him a happy home.
5. Viggo Mortenson and ... multiple horses
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Viggo Mortenson is a repeat offender when it comes to falling in love with his animal co-stars. Although he didn't adopt any pets, Mortenson bought two horses from The Lord of the Rings, including Eurayus, who played Brego, and Kenny, who played Hasufel. He also purchased the white horse that Arwen rides while being chased by the Nazg?l in The Fellowship of the Ring as a gift for the stuntwoman who filmed that scene. Sadly, the first two horses have since died.
6. Audrey Hepburn and Pippin ("Ip")
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In a case of life imitating art, Audrey Hepburn starred as a woman in the Venezuelan jungle who is followed around by a fawn in 1959’s Green Mansions, which was directed by the star’s then-husband, Mel Ferrer. During her time on set, Hepburn became the caretaker of the baby deer, even feeding her with a bottle.
The actress gave up the fawn after filming wrapped, but her husband tracked it down a year later, after Hepburn suffered a tragic miscarriage, to help lift his wife’s spirits. While the couple was extremely happy with their new family member, Mr. Famous, the pair’s Yorkshire terrier, was reportedly not pleased.
7. Tiffany Haddish and “Keanu” aka Catonic
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The title character in the movie Keanu, starring Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, was played by multiple kittens, including one named Clementine. Co-star Tiffany Haddish lobbied to keep Clementine after filming ended, and renamed her Catonic. If the pictures on Haddish’s Instagram are any indication, Catonic is quite thrilled with how things turned out!
8. Chris Evans and Dodger
The filming of 2017’s Gifted required a shoot in a dog pound. When actor and famous animal lover Chris Evans arrived on set, he immediately inquired, “Are these actor dogs, or are these real, up-for-adoption dogs?” When he found out the animals were looking for homes, he set about finding his new best friend.
“I was walking up and down the aisles and saw this one dude and he didn’t belong there," he said. "I snagged him and he’s such a good dog.”