Austin Butler has heaped praise upon his Caught Stealing co-star.
The Elvis and Dune actor stars opposite Regina King, Zoe Kravitz, Matt Smith, Bad Bunny, Liev Schreiber, and Vincent D’Onofrio, but it’s Tonic the cat who’s the star according to him.
Speaking to Digital Spy at the Gala Screening this week, Butler said that the feline actor, who plays Bud the cat in the film, was “wonderful”.
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“He’s so smart and so cute, but he’s a scene stealer. He’s so present, it’s amazing,” Butler said.
“That cat is so smart and well trained,” Kravitz added. “Honestly, never had a problem. In fact, I think he was so well trained that he made everyone else stay on their game.”

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Director Darren Aronofsky joked that “Tonic the cat is the Daniel Day Lewis of cats. He’s just a remarkable creature.
“Totally in character all the time. Never steps out of character, he’s always a cat.”
Set in the late 1990s, Caught Stealing features Butler as Hank Thompson, a former baseball pro who offers to babysit Bud, the cat owned by Smith’s orange mohawked-character Russ.
Unfortunately, that leads to him getting roped into New York City’s criminal underworld.

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Ahead of the film’s release next week, reactions from critics have started to appear online, and they’re pretty positive.
The film is described as a crime caper that feels like it could have been made in the ’90s, with plenty of energy, twists and turns. It’s also been called the most accessible film in Aronofsky’s career to date.
Caught Stealing is released in cinemas on 29 August.
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Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he’s covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I’m a Fish.
Freelance Reporter, Digital Spy After completing her joint honours degree in Journalism and English Literature at Cardiff University, Iona joined Digital Spy as a Content Production Intern in 2022. In that role, Iona wrote across both news and features, specialising in TV and movies. Following her internship, Iona now contributes to DS as a freelance reporter.
Iona has reported from the Black Adam red carpet, and interviewed celebrities ranging from Love Island stars to the cast of Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid.