How a cat cured Lupita Nyong’o’s depression

Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o has shared her journey of conquering her fear of cats and healing from a devastating breakup, which prompted her mother to fly from Kenya to support her.

In an ironic twist, the star revealed this while speaking with Glamour about her upcoming role in A Quiet Place: Day One, set to release on June 28, in which her character owns a cat.

“I asked the director Michael Sarnoski if there was any way that we could change the animal,” Nyong’o said. “I suggested an armadillo; he was not having it.”

However, after undergoing some intense “cat therapy,” Nyong’o became so enamored with the animal that she adopted her own following the shoot.

This happened during a particularly heartbreaking breakup, which she announced on Instagram in October last year, revealing her split from boyfriend Selema Masekela.

 

 

 

 

 

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“I was flirting with depression,” she revealed. “I wasn’t there yet, but I was flirting with it. And I had a voice say in my head, ‘Get a cat.'”

Nyong’o credits her cat Yoyo with lifting her out of a "super-low" period as she dealt with a "severely broken" heart.

Her mother rushed to be with her from Kenya, along with one of her closest friends.

When Lupita arrived at Best Friends Animal Society to find a pet, she noticed a sign.“There was a poster that said something like, ‘Not over your ex? Foster a cat.’ It was spot-on."