News of Catherine O’Hara’s sudden death in January triggered an outpouring of laments, tributes, and clips of the actress in iconic films like Beetlejuice and Best in Show. But for actor, writer, showrunner and Out cover star Dan Levy, the mourning process is far from over.
In an emotional interview on CBS Sunday Morning, Levy discussed his Schitt’s Creek costar’s passing, revealing that he was “thinking about” a sequel before the news of her loss but couldn’t imagine going forward without her.
“No, not now. No. You can’t,” a choked-up Levy told CBS’ Anthony Mason as the two walked through downtown Goodwood, Ontario, which served as the fictional town of Schitt’s Creek.
Levy, who just released his new Netflix series, Big Mistakes, visited the town with Mason in March, his first time returning since wrapping the series, which also starred Eugene Levy and Annie Murphy. “It’s tough. It’s tough going back. I didn’t think I’d have quite an emotional reaction,” Levy said, tearing up in front of the real-life storefront for the show’s Rose Apothecary. “Just a lot of memories. A lot of memories with Catherine.”
Levy added of O’Hara, “It’s what you have to hold onto is the memories of it all… and an incredible clip reel. Listen, for someone who was not on the internet, she knew how to meme.”
When Schitt’s Creek premiered on Canada’s CBC in 2015, it was an instant success thanks to its truly original, oddball characters and their endlessly quotable repartee. Centered on the fall of a video store empire run by the Rose family, the series aired for six seasons and eventually earned a massive following in the U.S., winning nine Emmys in 2020.
In the premiere episode, the four Roses — parents Moira and Johnny (O’Hara and Eugene Levy) and kids Alexis and David (Murphy and Dan Levy) — lose everything when the business falls victim to fraud and are exiled to the small, unimpressive town of Schitt’s Creek. Desperate to avoid fading into rural obscurity, each family member resolves to find a way out — which leads to some amusing side quests involving the locals. Over the course of the show's first season, perhaps none was more memorable than an overserved Moira filming a TV spot as the spokeswoman for a local vintner.
“The fruit wine commercial, I knew when we shot that, that even if the show was a disaster, please let that clip go viral. Please someone find it and put it on the internet,” Levy said of the much-memed episode that also paid tribute to British sitcom Absolutely Fabulous and inspired a parody video by Kyle MacLachlan.
Discussing Big Mistakes, Levy, who co-created Schitt’s Creek with his comedy legend father, said that he wasn’t concerned about living up to his previous success when writing the new show. As he sees it, if Schitt’s Creek ends up being the “big crown jewel” of his career, then that’s something to celebrate, not be haunted by. Rather than live in the past, Levy is looking forward to making projects that make him feel good, knowing that he’ll always be able to return to Schitt’s Creek through his memories of the close-knit cast and their time on set.
“We had the best time. We had the best time. She had the best time,” Levy said of O’Hara, whom he described as “awe-inspiring” and “one of the great, great, great, great queens.” “It’s an amazing thing to be a part of something that she loved so much. You know, it feels very special.”
