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Jessie Buckley’s answer to the age old question of ‘cats or dogs’ has left her at risk of being cancelled – and some fans even believe it could derail her Oscar hopes.
She is the favourite to win the Academy Award for Best Actress for her standout performance as the grief-stricken Agnes Hathaway in Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet.
But an interview from November has resurfaced, which shows the 36-year-old actress admitting she had given husband Freddie Sorensen an ultimatum before she agreed to move in with him – either get rid of his beloved cats or her.
In the original interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Ms Buckley stated, ‘I don’t like cats,’ while her Hamnet co-star Paul Mescal echoed, ‘F*** cats,’ as they both burst out laughing.
Ms Buckley caught cat lovers’ attention when she added: ‘My husband, when I started dating him, he had two cats… This is bad as well. I’m gonna get cancelled.
‘One of the cats was like a pedigree model bitch, and she staged a coup against me. I’d come home, and there’d just be poo on my pillow. And I was like, ‘it’s me or the cats’. But I won!’
Ms Buckley has now desperately backtracked to say she is a lover of cats, following the backlash.
She said on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: ‘I need to clarify something for all cat lovers in the world.
‘I am a lover of cats. I woke up this morning to the world thinking I really don’t love cats and it really weighed on me all day. I felt sick.
‘I want to just tell cat people, I actually auditioned to be a cat once. And there’s been misconceptions because of an interview that I did.
They asked me if I was a dog or a cat [person] and I’m thinking I’m probably a quarter cat and three-quarters dog.’
The Hamnet star then confirmed she had auditioned for the Cats musical, but gave the ‘worst’ try-out of her life.
She grimaced and said: ‘I’m making that face because honestly, I gave the worst audition of my life.
‘Well, how do you be a cat?!… It was so hot. I was sweating. I was like licking my paw… Obviously, I didn’t get it.’
Ms Buckley has so far picked up all the awards she was nominated for this season, including a BAFTA, Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice Award.
Concerned fans said they worried that Jessie’s dislike of cats could backfire on her.
They wrote: ‘Damage control. Oscar voting is over, but she needs to protect her future casting potential and box office success. She’s a talented actress and I wouldn’t necessarily boycott her if she made something I was interested in, but I’m not buying her change of heart,’;
‘not the damage control [crying face],’; ‘To late miss..the harm is done ….you are done for cat lovers,’;
‘Desperately trying to save her Oscar campaign,’; ‘Sorry jessie u just dont f*** with cats. Cats are everything.. that interview was questionable,’;
‘Figured this was coming but I think Oscar voting closed before airtime,’; ‘That Oscar is secured.’
Fans are now eager to watch if she picks up her first Oscar on March 15, or if the feline community will claim victory.
