Four Maine Coon cats, rescued from shelters, were used to portray Church in Dennis Widmyer and Kevin Kolsch’s Pet Sematary, with cats named Tonic and Leo primarily playing the role in this year’s adaptation of Stephen King’s timeless novel; Tonic played the role of "living Church" while Leo took over when the Creed's feline companion needed to look a little more, well, undead.
Sadly, we've learned the sad news that Leo has passed away.
Following the completion of the film, animal trainer Kirk Jarrett adopted Leo and created his own Instagram account, which quickly racked up over 15k followers! Jarrett frequently posted photos of Leo, including shots from the set of the film. In an interview prior to Pet Sematary's release, Jarrett noted: “Leo is a confident sit-stay cat. His role is as the undead Church; that was his whole purpose, to be the poster child. The cat you see all across the different platforms, and in the trailer, almost any time he’s in in the undead makeup—that was Leo.”
Jarrett wrote on the Instagram account this week, “It is with great sadness that we tell you that Leo has passed away. He will forever be missed by his human and fur family.”
“May his star always shine bright.”
Rest in peace Leo, you were the true star of the film.