The new action comedy Caught Stealing, is set in New York's East Village in the 1990s. Its all-star cast includes Austin Butler, Zoë Kravitz, Regina King and Bad Bunny. They're often upstaged by a fluffy Siberian forest cat named Tonic.
In the movie, he plays Bud, who lives with Russ, a Brit with a mohawk who's involved in some shady stuff. One night, Russ (played by Matt Smith) asks his neighbor Hank to take care of Bud while he flies to London. Hank, a burned out baseball player turned bartender (played by Butler), agrees to cat sit. Thus begins a wild ride; bad guys come looking for cash stolen by Russ, and assume Hank's in on it. Forced to run, Hank spends a lot of the film carrying Bud the cat in a duffle bag.
Through the mayhem, the cat actor remains unfazed.
"Tonic is so brilliant, isn't he? He's a scene stealer," says Butler, the movie's cat daddy. "He had this very primal fire in his eyes, you know. And so when you fed him a treat, he didn't just take it out of your hand with his mouth. He would grab it with his paw. He's like this tiny little tiger. It's just so impressive to see. And then on top of that, he could stay on a mark for an hour and a half, he's just so focused."
Director Darren Aronofsky says the cat was relatable and extremely professional. "When Tonic was coming to set Tonic would get excited, like Tonic knew it was time to work," he says. "I'm a dog person, I love my dog, but dogs are really human pleasers and cats definitely are in their own universe, and you kind of gotta work with whatever they give you. Tonic's not a type of cat you pet. I would have to stop myself because Tonic doesn't like to be touched. You just have to respect that."
Aronofsky says Tonic was remarkably easy to work with. He gives credit to the cat's mom, animal trainer Melissa Millett, whom he calls an animal whisperer, "deep in the mind of the creature. Very no nonsense when it comes to in any way putting stress on the animal."
At their home near Toronto, Millett gives Tonic his favorite treat: a grilled chicken breast fillet in crab flavored broth. He shares his catio, a large but enclosed outdoor hangout space, with his siblings, including a Bengal leopard cat named Sashimi and a Boston Terrier named Lollipop, who earned Guinness World Records for the fastest five meters on a scooter by a dog and cat pair in 2020 and 2023.
Millett says Tonic was a stray kitten, found walking the streets in Ontario eight years ago. She took him in to live with her four other rescue cats and a very confident two pound chihuahua. She's trained all of them and other pets to perform at fairs and festivals; the troupe even does shows next to noisy tractor pulls and demolition derbies.
Like the rest of the performers, she says, Tonic is a pro.
"Tonic comes out like he's having the time of his life. He loves the work, and he walks around with his tail high," she says, adding that's the sign of a confident cat: their tails held high and hooked at the end.
Tonic was just a year old when got his first role, doing a lot of intense staring and jumping on actor John Lithgow's lap for an extended time, in the 2019 remake of Pet Sematary. Tonic was cast as the sweet and loyal family cat.
He was also in the 2023 horror movie Thanksgiving, watching characters get slashed. Millett says she and another trainer practiced pretending to kill each other in front of Tonic to get him used to the idea.
"He seems to know that this is make believe," she says. "He knows he's going to get a lot of chicken. He knows he has the choice to leave at any time."
Millett has been a top animal trainer for 25 years and spends months training Tonic for each role. She lures him to do each action in stages, with treats, toys and time to explore. She walks him on a leash or puts him in a bubble backpack, but never carries him like a prop.
"I allow him to walk to the set," she says. "He goes to the mark which says, 'yes, I'm ready for another one.' And after maybe 10 or 12 rounds, he won't get on the mark again. And that's his way of saying, 'Yeah, we've had enough. You've got enough out of me.' He knows that he's the boss, he's in control."
Millett also sometimes uses a clicker to signal he'll get a reward. That's how she taught him to ride on a skateboard and a tricycle — tricks you can see him do on his personal social media feeds.
Tonic wasn't asked to do anything so fancy for Caught Stealing, but he did get his own trailer, a van and a green room outfitted with toys and food. He also had five cat doubles: Swivel, Twix, Boogie, Jager and Stewie. Millett says on location, he always drew a crowd.
"Maybe just because it's amazing to see a cat so confident walking around downtown New York on a leash. He believes the world revolves around him."
On the red carpet at the New York premiere, Tonic wore a spiked black leather jacket and rode a small cat-sized convertible past the paparazzi. Co-star Austin Butler says he always steals the show.
"Yeah, he's a big star," he says, adding they treated him as a diva. "I mean, when he doesn't feel like doing something, he will not do it."
Does that remind Butler of anyone else he's worked with? He chuckles,"I can't name names."
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