Caught Stealing (2025)

In the scene where the actor sits on the bed, the cat runs over and cuddles up to him, the actor was well acquainted with the cat. Prior to filming, they placed the cat on its mark. On action, the trainer stood off-camera and cued the cat to run to the actor. In the scene where the actors are kissing and the cat watches them from underneath bed, prior to shooting the scene trainers placed the cat on his mark underneath the bed and cued him to stare at them.

In the scene where the actor is lying in the doorway, beaten up, the cat walks out of the apartment and looks at him, prior to shooting the scene the trainer placed the cat on his mark. On action, the trainer cued the cat to walk out of the doorway using hand signals The trainer also used verbal and buzzing cues to get the cat to look at the actor.

In the scene where the actor drives down a country road and quickly swerves past a cow standing in the middle of the road, the calf was filmed on a country road against a blue screen plate. In post-production, they’ll make it look as if the car almost hit the calf. On action, the trainer simply walked the calf across the road. In post-production, they erased the trainer’s image through CGI.

In the scene where the actor crouches on the fire escape and sees the cat sitting on the bed looking at him, the wrangler stood off-camera to hold cat’s attention. They placed cat on bed, cued him to stare at camera, and rewarded him with treats. In the scene where the actress tries to pet the cat, and it hisses and swats at her, trainers used toys to get cat to swat at the actor.

In the scene where the actor investigates the kitty litter and the cat stares up at him, trainers stood off-camera in the bathroom. On action, they cued the cat to walk inside the bathroom and stare at the actor.

In the scene where the actor walks into an apartment holding a canvas bag, takes the cat out of the bag and places him on the floor, the trainers placed cat in bag prior to filming. The cat was accustomed to sitting in the bag at that point. When the cat limps towards the main actor, trainers placed a prop bandage on his front leg. They created the bandage by placing a baby sock without the toe, over the cat’s front leg and wrapped it in a thin layer of rolled gauze. They rehearsed and prepped with the cat wearing the prop several times before shooting the scene.

In the scene where the two actors sit in an empty diner and talk while one of them holds the cat in the bag on his lap, prior to shooting, the trainer placed the bag in the actor’s lap. Not fully zipped, the trainer then placed the cat in the bag. The cat stuck his head out of the bag for the duration of the scene. In the same scene the cat jumped from the bag to the counter, which trainers accomplished by having the cat jump on cue. They used the same technique in the car when the actor sits in the backseat between two actors with the cat sitting in the bag and his head sticking out.

In the scene where the actors talk in the backroom of a bar, and we see a lizard in a terrarium, prior to shooting the scene the reptile’s trainer brought the gecko to set and placed him in a terrarium. Before gunfire takes place, trainers removed the live lizard and replaced it with a fake one. The real lizard wasn’t near the gunfire.

In the scene where the actors meet in the park and the actress holds the bag with the cat inside; they accomplished most of this scene with insert shots. Prior to shooting the trainers brought the cat to the set and placed a piece of white cotton around his limb to simulate a splint. On action, they cued the cat to jump out of the bag and run to the main actor. In the next scene when the actor holds the cat to his chest and backs up slowly into his car, the actor cradled the cat to his chest by keeping a finger looped in his collar. All the gunfire occurred without the cat on set.

In the scene when the actor sits in subway and opens the bag, revealing the cat, the set was dressed to look like seats inside of a subway car. Prior to shooting the scene, a trainer placed a cat in a duffel bag and closed the bag. Then the actor held the bag in his lap and opened it to reveal the cat inside. The cat was never on a moving subway. They used the same technique when the actor is on the bus with the cat in the bag.

In the scene where the actor sits in a van with a cat in a bag, the scene was filmed inside a picture car on stage surrounded by green screens.

In the scene after the car crash and the actor pets the cat, the cat was never in the car during a stunt. The actor and the cat were well acquainted with each other, so it was a natural reaction for the actor to pet the cat.

In the scene where the actor places a canvas bag on the bar with the cat sitting inside, the trainer placed the bag on the bar with the cat on the bar. When the bartender tries to pet the cat and it bites him, the trainer worked with the actor playing the bartender prior to shooting, instructing him how to simulate the cat to bite him by hiding a treat in his hand then pulling his hand back