When friends help each other in tough times, the moments can turn into sweet memories—or funny, awkward stories you’ll never forget. Hollywood actress and director Zoe Kravitz recently shared one such memory from when she stayed at her close friend Taylor Swift’s home during a dangerous wildfire in Los Angeles. What started as a kind gesture from Taylor ended up becoming a story that Zoe says she will probably remember forever—partly because it involved her mom, Lisa Bonet, and a very unexpected guest: a pet snake.
Zoe, who is now 36 years old, appeared on the popular talk show Late Night with Seth Meyers to talk about her latest movie work. But during the conversation, she opened up about a moment in her personal life that made the audience laugh. It happened a few years ago when Los Angeles was struggling with deadly wildfires. Many families had to leave their homes because of the danger. In the middle of all this, Taylor Swift, who is 35, stepped in to offer Zoe and her mother a safe place to stay.
According to Zoe, Taylor didn’t hesitate to help. She welcomed them warmly into her beautiful home. “My mom has a pet snake, and so she came over with the snake. We ended up having to stay there for maybe about two weeks,” Zoe explained. The way she told the story made it sound both normal and unusual at the same time—after all, not many people show up at a friend’s house carrying a snake as a houseguest.
Taylor’s home, as Zoe described, isn’t just any house. It’s a stunning property from the 1930s, filled with character and charm. Zoe seemed to admire the way Taylor has taken care of it, almost like it’s a treasure that needs to be preserved. “Taylor has a very beautiful house from the ’30s; it’s just something you want to preserve and take care of,” she said, making it clear that she wanted to be as respectful as possible while staying there.
By the end of their two-week stay, Zoe had a goal in mind—she wanted to leave without leaving any trace behind. She wanted Taylor to feel that her guests had been perfect houseguests. “It was the last day; I was gonna leave (for work), my mom was actually going to stay longer, and I was saying to my mom, ‘I really want to be a good houseguest. I don’t want her to even know we were here’,” she told Seth Meyers.
But that plan didn’t go quite as expected. As Zoe was packing her bags and getting ready to leave, her phone rang. It was her mother, calling from upstairs. “She goes, ‘I’m in a little bit of a pickle; can you come upstairs?’” Zoe recalled. The phrase “in a little bit of a pickle” immediately made Zoe wonder what had gone wrong.
When Zoe got upstairs, she found her mom in the bathroom, crouched in the corner in an odd position. Something was clearly not right. “She’s, like, crouched in the corner in this weird way,” Zoe said. “She’s like, ‘So I was washing my face, and I had Orpheus (the snake’s name), and I just put her down for a second, closed the door, and she found this little hole in the corner.’”
Yes, you guessed it—the snake had vanished into the walls or floors of Taylor Swift’s beautiful 1930s home. For a moment, Zoe and her mom were probably wondering how they were ever going to explain this to Taylor. It was the kind of situation where you’d have to choose between panic and laughter—and it seems like Zoe chose to tell the story with a lot of humor.
From Zoe’s description, it sounds like the snake’s disappearance was completely accidental. Her mother was simply taking care of her own nightly routine, and the snake, named Orpheus, was probably just curious about its surroundings. But the image of a snake crawling into a hidden hole inside Taylor Swift’s house is both surprising and slightly nerve-wracking.
Taylor herself wasn’t part of this moment, but if she ever heard the full story, she likely had a good laugh about it later. The idea of finding a snake in your home days or weeks after your friends leave is definitely not something most people expect.
For Zoe, this became a reminder that even with the best intentions, you can’t always control everything. She had been so focused on leaving without a single sign of her stay, yet the snake incident became the most memorable part of the visit.
The way Zoe tells the story makes it more than just a funny mishap—it’s also about friendship and kindness. In the middle of a natural disaster, Taylor Swift didn’t think twice before opening her home to her friends. That gesture of generosity allowed Zoe and her mom to feel safe and protected when their own place was in danger. And while they may have left behind more than just footprints, it’s clear that the bond between them is strong enough to survive a runaway snake.
This story also shows a very human side of celebrities. Often, fans see stars like Taylor Swift and Zoe Kravitz only in glamorous settings—on stage, on red carpets, in movies, or in photo shoots. But moments like these remind us that they also deal with unexpected problems, awkward situations, and even missing pets, just like anyone else.
In the end, Zoe’s visit to Taylor’s home wasn’t just a safe refuge from the wildfires—it became a chapter in her life that she can now share with a smile. And maybe, just maybe, next time she visits, she’ll double-check that Orpheus stays safely in a secure place. Whether or not Taylor invites her back might depend on how adventurous she’s feeling about surprise guests.
As Zoe continues to share her life experiences in interviews, stories like this one make her seem relatable, down-to-earth, and genuinely funny. And it’s easy to imagine that somewhere, Taylor Swift is telling her own version of the “snake in the house” story to her friends, too.
