Here's Why Salem Doesn't Talk in 'Chilling Adventures of Sabrina'

Wondering why Greendale’s resident cat Salem Saberhagen doesn’t speak in Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina?

Kiernan Shipka is explaining.

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“I know the original Salem [from Sabrina the Teenage Witch] is like a meme because he’s so sassy and fun, but I feel like that’s probably its own iconic thing,” the actress told ET. “It’s cool that we’re doing something that’s slightly more different because I don’t think that you could compare to that at all, so I was happy.”

“It just felt very in line with the show too to be a little more, like, subtle but still sort of there,” she added. “It felt like just the right balance. And I mean all three of [the cats who play Salem] are stars: Shaq and Boomer and Edward. They are always on. They’re scene-stealers! You’re going to get upstaged by them.”

“I’m pretty allergic to cats,” she also shared with a laugh.

Another difference: In the original versions of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Salem was once a warlock, who was transformed into a cat as punishment by the magical realm’s witches’ council. However, in the new version, Salem is Sabrina‘s “familiar,” aka one of the “goblins who have taken on the shape of animals to better serve their witch masters,” according to Aunt Zelda in the pilot.