'Sabrina' Star Kiernan Shipka Discovered Her Cat Allergy by Working with Co-Star Salem the Cat

Kiernan Shipka has grown up a lot since her "Mad Men" days, and now she's ready to cast a spell on viewers with "The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina," if she doesn't swell up first from allergies.

The actress admitted to Seth Meyers on "Late Night" Monday night that it turns out she's allergic to cats. This might not be an issue on most shows, but as any long-time fans of the Archie Comics character Sabrina know, her witch's familiar is her black cat, Salem.

In fact, Shipka didn't even know she was allergic to cats until she shared her first up-close scene with the cat cast to portray Salem on the upcoming Netflix series. "I found out when I brought the cat so close to my face," Shipka said. "And then the next day, I had hives everywhere beyond belief."

When Meyers asked how the show was working around that, Shipka laughed, "Zyrtec, man. I mean honestly, at this point, I should be sponsored by an antihistamine company."

She then admitted that Zyrtec wasn't their first solution. "If you look in the first two episodes, there are like two scenes, 'cause we show them simultaneously, where I'm totally acting on Benadryl. Maybe only I know that, but it was a mistake to take it. But my face hurt so much."

Suddenly that terrible Salem puppet Melissa Joan Hart worked opposite on ABC's "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" series is looking pretty good, isn't it?

The actress also talked about the proximity "Sabrina" shares with The CW's hit show "Riverdale." Both exist not only in the same universe, but they also shoot in the same town. And so, in the spirit of community, the casts and crews of both shows joined up for a fun softball game.

At least it was all in fun for the "Sabrina" cast. "We won in spirit," Shipka said,"And 'Riverdale' crushed us." But she had a ready excuse as to why, saying that "Riverdale" took it way too seriously.

"They had, like, tryouts," she said, whereas her cast and crew gave everyone a chance to play and were having fun with it. Regardless of that final score, Shipka still declared, "We were victorious. Absolutely."

With "Sabrina" picked up already for two seasons on Netflix, there's a perfect opportunity for a rematch next year! In the meantime, fans can check out the first season when it drops on the streaming service this Friday, October, 26.

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