7 Stars Who Adopted Pets from Sets
Chris Evans, Sarah Jessica Parker, Taylor Swift and a slew of other celebs have fallen so in love with their animal costars, they took them home
Plenty of celebrities have followed the mantra of "adopt, don't shop," but some haven't even had to visit a shelter to find their fur-ever friends — they rescued them right from the sets of their projects!
From Chris Evans to most recently, Sarah Jessica Parker, here are stars who've adopted cats and dogs straight from movie and TV sets.
Sarah Jessica Parker
As season 2 of her hit And Just Like That ... finished its run, Parker shared the sweet news that she'd adopted the cat that played Carrie's feline friend, Shoe.
"His off-camera name is Lotus," Parker captioned an Instagram post about her new addition. "He and his siblings were all given botanical names when they were rescued as newborns by the @cthumanesociety."
"Adopted officially by the Parker/Broderick family in April 2023. He joins Rémy and Smila who we adopted in May 2022."
Chris Evans
Evans famously adopted the dog now known as Dodger from the set of his 2017 film, Gifted.
“One of the last scenes we were filming was in a pound, a kennel,” Evans told PEOPLE at the time. “I foolishly walked in and I thought, ‘Are these actor dogs or are these real up for adoption dogs?’ And sure enough they were, so I was walking up and down the aisles and saw this one dude and he didn’t belong there. I snagged him and he’s such a good dog. They aged him at about 1, he acts like a puppy, he’s got the energy of a puppy, he’s just such a sweetheart, he’s such a good boy. He loves dogs, he loves kids, he’s full of love.”
Taylor Swift
Naturally, Swift fans were the first to notice that the singer's new addition in 2019 looked a lot like a cat featured in her "ME!" music video. Swift — already mom to two cats — eventually confirmed the news in an Instagram Live with collaborator Brendon Urie.
“He was just a cute kitten who didn’t have a home,” she explained of Benjamin Button, adding that he was part of a program that “tries to get cute kittens adopted by putting them in commercials and stuff.”
The handler asked Swift if she wanted to hold the cat before they shot their scene together. “She handed me this tiny cat and he just starts purring and … he looks at me like, ‘You’re my mom, and we’re going to live together.’ I fell in love. I looked at Brendon and he’s like, ‘You’re going to get the cat aren’t you?’ ”
“It was truly love at first sight, love at first purr,” Urie added. “You did not stop. It was just adorable.”
Yvette Nicole Brown
When filming the live-action remake of Disney+'s Lady and the Tramp in 2019, the on-set animal trainer handpicked the dog Brown would come to adopt.
“[The trainer] didn’t just let people grab a dog,” Brown told PEOPLE at the time. “She watched you the entire run of the show and at the end she goes, ‘I think I have your dog.’ I said ‘Oh! Who is it?’ and she says, “Harley is your dog.’ ”
“She was 100 percent right,” she continued. “Harley is my dog. I love him. He’s a maniac, but I love him.”
Tiffany Haddish
Remember the adorable cat from the hilarious 2016 film Keanu? Haddish took her home.
"She was a rescue cat that they trained and were looking for a home for," Haddish told Hollywood Outbreak of Catonic in 2019. A trainer noticed that every time the actress held the cat, she cozied up and fell asleep.
Since she already had two dogs at home, Haddish was hesitant to add the cat into the mix, but the on-set trainers promised to help her train all three to co-exist.
The result? "For the first year, the cat I swear she thought she was a dog," Haddish said.
Sophie Turner
In a 2013 interview with Coventry Live, Turner shared one particularly special memento she kept from the Game of Thrones set: her dog!
The actress and her family welcomed Zunni, who played her character Sansa Stark's direwolf Lady, after she convinced her parents to agree.
"Growing up I always wanted a dog, but my parents never wanted one," she said. "We kind of fell in love with my character's direwolf, Lady, on set."
She continued, "We knew Lady died [on the show] and they wanted to re-home her. My mum persuaded them to let us adopt her."
Sylvester Stallone
In 2019, Stallone blew some fans' minds when he revealed he'd actually adopted turtles Cuff and Link off the set of 1976's Rocky. What's more: they had cameos in 2018's Creed II.
“In CREED 2 with my original buddies from the first Rocky … CUFF and LINK, now about 44 years old!” Stallone wrote in an Instagram caption.
For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on People.