Michael Sarnoski was urged to have CGI cats in A Quiet Place: Day One
Michael Sarnoski was urged to use CGI instead of real cats in 'A Quiet Place: Day One'
The filmmaker's vision for the movie saw a feline named Frodo take centre stage and he admitted when he first turned in a script - which was co-written by franchise creator John Krasinski - movie bosses didn't expect him to want to use real animals because they thought it would be too hard a task.
He told The Hollywood Reporter: "The initial reaction was, 'Okay, we’re going to have a computer-generated cat. I guess we can pull that off.'
"But then I said, 'No, I really want to do all the cat stuff for real and not ever do a CG cat.'
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"Everyone was like, 'We’ll see about that.'
"But thankfully, we managed it with incredible cat trainers and incredible cat performers. Everyone assumed wouldn’t be able to pull it off the old fashioned way, but I’m really happy we did."
Despite pushing for animal actors, Michael admitted he was "nervous" his idea wouldn't pay off, but that only made things more exciting.
He said: "The things that make me the most nervous are also the things that most excite me.
"There is something about, 'What a stupid idea to put a cat in every scene when you’re going to do these huge set pieces. Do you really want to tie your hands that way?'
"But sometimes in those limitations you find the most authenticity and the most fun.
"So, yeah, I was nervous. But I want to be nervous. I want to be not sure if an idea is going to work out. If everything feels safe, the audience is going to feel that and I’m going to be bored."