Jessie Buckley confirms her thoughts on cats after viral backlash

Jessie Buckley has moved to reassure "feline fans" that she is, in fact, a "lover of cats," following a significant backlash over previous comments where she appeared to express a dislike for the animals.

Speaking on Jimmy Fallon’s US chat show on Thursday, the Oscar-nominated actress described her earlier remarks as a "misconception," revealing she even once auditioned for a role as a cat, a detail she hoped would mend fences with disgruntled pet owners.

The controversy stemmed from an interview last year while promoting her film Hamnet with co-star Paul Mescal. When asked about their pet preferences, both actors stated a clear preference for dogs. Buckley explicitly declared, "I don’t like cats. Cats are mean." She further fuelled the online furore by recounting an anecdote about giving her husband an ultimatum: he had to choose "either her or his cats."

However, appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Buckley insisted her true feelings had been profoundly misunderstood. "I need to clarify something for all cat lovers in the world, right?" she began, addressing the camera directly. "I am a lover of cats. I woke up this morning – does the world think that I really don’t love cats? And it’s really weighed on me all day. I felt sick." She continued, explaining the origin of the misunderstanding: "There’s been a misconception because of an interview that I did. They asked me if I was a dog or a cat, and honestly, I think I’m probably a quarter cat and three-quarters dog."

To further prove her genuine affection for felines, Buckley revealed a surprising past endeavour: she had once auditioned for the 2019 film adaptation of the musical Cats, though ultimately without success. "I want to just tell cat people that I actually auditioned to be a cat once," she stated. Describing the experience, she confessed to Fallon: "It was honestly the worst – I gave the worst audition of my life. It was so hot. I was sweating. I was like, licking my paws, like trying to leap. I was just like a hoof of an Irish woman leaping across and licking her paws. And anyway, obviously I didn’t get it." Her vivid description painted a humorous picture of her failed attempt to embody a feline.

The original comments, which sparked the widespread online furore, were made during an appearance on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast in November. Buckley, who recently won a Bafta for Best Actress for Hamnet and is Oscar-nominated, hopes her latest, heartfelt clarification will finally appease disgruntled cat enthusiasts and set the record straight on her true feelings towards the animals.