Why hire someone when you can rely on a trusty feline friend? Just ask Meryl Streep, whose cat helps her rehearse her movie lines!

The Oscar-winning actress reads the script to her pet to see if he is impressed by her performance. National Enquirer magazine reports:

“Every evening when she runs through her lines, her cat wraps himself around her feet. If her performance sounds insincere or boring he will suddenly stop purring and stalk out of the room. But if the tabby thinks Meryl has delivered her lines brilliantly, he will purr loudly and proudly. He is her most dependable critic.”

Meryl, 60, isn’t the only Hollywood star who shares a special bond with their pet—Drew Barrymore regularly speaks about her beloved yellow Labrador-Chow mix pet Flossie. She once said, “Flossie is like my little daughter. I can’t wait to have kids.”

Drew was saved by Flossie when a fire struck the $3 million mansion she shared with then-husband Tom Green in 2001. The actress claimed that she was woken in the early hours of the morning when Flossie barked after smelling smoke and “literally banged on the bedroom door” to alert the couple to the blaze.