Lupita Nyong’o in “A Quiet Place: Day One.”  Gareth Gatrell/Paramount Pictures

Michael Sarnoski, the director of “A Quiet Place: Day One,” wanted the main character to have a service animal. But he didn’t think a barking dog would survive long in a film about predatory aliens that hunt by sound. “I figured a cat would have a shot,” he said.

Enter Schnitzel, who played a cat that takes on the end of the world.