In the new comedy Nine Lives, Kevin Spacey plays a workaholic company CEO who suddenly finds himself trapped in the body of his family's new pet, a Siberian forest cat called Mr Fuzzypants.
While Spacey provides the voice - and the attitude - his fellow cast members Jennifer Garner and Christopher Walken are required to act opposite a furry costar. Garner loved diving into a premise this ridiculous. "This movie is incredibly watchable, funny and warm," she enthuses. "Kevin plays a jerk who doesn't pay attention to his family or his daughter. He's a little bit of an egomaniac! And then his soul pops into this cat. Kevin's voiceover is hilarious. He had something funny to say about every single moment of every single day."
So how did it feel to perform opposite a cat? "It was very funny," she laughs. "You're working so much with the animal handlers, which I had done but never to this extent. And everything is done to keep the cats focused, in a good mood, happy, looking camera-ready. They are definitely the star, the diva! And they are the centre of the universe when they're on set. I'd be getting a touch up on my make-up, and they'd say, 'Jennifer, Fuzzypants is ready!' And we'd all hurry because Fuzzypants was in a better mood."
She felt that she and her co-stars were all in this together, even though Spacey was mainly off-set, providing his dialogue in voiceover. "Kevin had me crying with laughter" she says. "But Christopher Walken is so quiet when you're acting with him. You can't really tell what he's doing. And then he turns around and whispers to the cat, he's like, 'Listen, Fuzzypants....'"
For his part, Walken enjoyed playing Felix, the mystical pet shop owner who causes the chaos. "My character is there to remind Kevin's character that there's a lot more to life than his business," he says. "And I actually looked forward to working with cats!"
He explains: "I like cats. And cats are very good with me. I only have one. Interestingly, she showed up at the back of my house about three years ago with three kittens. So I fed them and raised them and got homes for them. And she still lives with me!"
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