Aubrey Plaza On “Really Weird” Experience Pitching ‘Kevin’ Animated Series With Ex-Boyfriend About Their Cat: “Like An Acid Trip For Me”

Although Aubrey Plaza‘s latest series is about a talking cat in Queens, Kevin is very much inspired by her own life.

The Golden Globe nominee, who voices Kevin’s person Dana, recently discussed the “really weird” experience pitching the animated Prime Video series with co-creators Dan Murphy and Joe Wengert, Plaza’s ex-boyfriend with whom she wrote the show inspired by their rescue cat.

“Yes, Joe and I, a long, long time ago, we lived in Queens, which is where the show is set,” she noted on The View. “We actually had two cats, Kevin and Howard, and we adopted them from like a mob family.”

Plaza recalled, “Pitching the show was a really full-circle, crazy moment. Because I was 19 when I met Joe. It kind of felt cathartic in a way, kind of like couple’s therapy, but 20 years later, in front of Amazon, Netflix and everyone. And we’re not a couple. But yeah, it’s crazy because that’s actually what our cat looked like, Kevin. That is our cat. So, this is like an acid trip for me. A lot going on for me.”

Premiering Monday, April 20 on Prime Video, Kevin stars Jason Schwartzman as the voice of the titular cat, who moves into a Queens pet rescue after his humans unexpectedly break up. There, he bonds with a local band of misfit animals, voiced by Whoopi Goldberg, John Waters, Amy Sedaris and Aparna Nancherla.

Guest stars include Quinta Brunson, Charles Melton, Joe Locke, Addison Rae, Tig Notaro, Nicole Byer, Patti LuPone, Debby Ryan, Maria Bamford, Cary Elwes and more.