Lupita Nyong’o 📸 by Alexi Lubormiski for Harper’s Bazaar UK (October 2024): “If I’m ever so lucky to be in a romantic relationship again, it’ll be because of my cat.”

https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/culture/culture-news/a62554015/lupita-nyongo-cover-shoot-interview/

Excerpt:

I am staring at an empty screen where Lupita Nyong’o’s face should be. The Oscar-winning actress is in New York promoting her latest film but all I can hear is the sound of rummaging while she searches for something just out of reach. “Look!” she exclaims, appearing once more on our Zoom call hugging a cat-shaped cushion with a photo of a reclining ginger moggy on it. “It’s Yoyo!”

Yoyo is the name of her actual pet, a rescue tom whom Nyong’o adopted last year after a particularly heart-wrenching breakup. She now has eyes for no one else. “My love for my cat is singular. If I'm ever so lucky to be in a romantic relationship again, it'll be because of him,” she says. “I was ready to shut that door and lock it and bolt it. He has ensured that my heart remains open.” Nyong’o professes all this while affectionately nuzzling the cushion. Someone made me this little pillow and at first, I thought, ‘what an odd gift’. But then as I was packing, I realised it means I get to take Yoyo with me.” She is smiling like, if you’ll excuse the pun, the cat who got the cream.