Here’s the thing. If you’re a fan of Dan Levy‘s sweet and hilarious “Schitt’s Creek” and have not watched season five because you’re too lazy to find POP either on cable, online or to download their app then you probably shouldn’t read this interview with the incomparable Catherine O’Hara. Bookmark it, set yourself a calendar reminder for after season five debuts on Netflix in the fall, but if you’re an Emmy voter, you better vote. This interview goes into major plot points about the latest season of the CBC and POP series. Moreover, it goes into major depth about Moira, a character that O’Hara has embodied with virtual wonder since “Creek” debuted a little over four years ago.
You’ve been warned.
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O’Hara is in the middle of shooting the sixth season of “Schitt’s Creek” and coordinating the interview was a bit dicey, something that is often the case when talent is in the middle of production. It was worth the wait, however, as O’Hara went into detail on Moira’s obsession with escaping the small town she and her family, the Roses (played by Eugene Levy, Dan Levy and Annie Murphy), were forced to reside in after losing their money to a fraudulent business manager. A former soap opera star, Moira not only finds herself starring in a low budget genre movie in Bosnia but directing the town’s impressive staging of “Cabaret.” While the rest of her family has adjusted to their new lives, Moira hasn’t. She’s still dying to get out and that makes her character arc often the most surprising.
With Emmy nomination voting well underway, O’Hara also discussed the Emmy love she’s been getting for her performance which she admits is a bit “surreal” considering her role in Christopher Guest’s awards season farce “For Your Consideration” over a decade ago. Life comes at you fast, but O’Hara, a winner in 1982 for writing “SCTV” and a three time nominee, is more than worthy of the recognition for one of the most memorable performances of her career.
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The Playlist: Hi, Catherine, how are you doing?
Catherine Ohara: I’m fine. I’m so sorry about earlier today.
No worries. I’ve been working, interviewing a ton of people, so it’s no big deal. I’m so glad to talk to you.
You interview other people?
I do. In fact, I interviewed Dan earlier today.
Oh, that’s great. He’s so good, isn’t he? He’s so eloquent.
He is. And one of the things he told me was how important it was this past season that the audience understand how successful Moira is as an artist. Was that important to you for the character as well?
Oh, absolutely. Yeah, I don’t know how much he told you about the story. Did he tell you anything [about what we’re doing now]?
For season six, no. We were just talking about this season.
Oh yeah, what did happen? What did I get? Oh, “Cabaret,” yes. Yeah, definitely. And I also asked for a scene when I was actually directing. Because I get credit for this beautiful show. And it was so much fun to stand off the stage and see how wonderful all the cast members were. Emily and Annie and Noah. Oh my goodness. And to stand on the side of the stage as Moira and imagine that I had created the whole thing. So, yeah it was really, it was important to me, for sure. I’ve always imagined that Moira is talented. And she got her break doing the soap opera, but most actors feel, even if they had success, instead of just being grateful and happy to be typecast, we all want to prove to the world that there’s so much more we can do. So, I believe that for Moira she just has not been given another opportunity since the soap opera.
So, but she did get that movie in Bosnia.
Yeah, she did. And she made the most of it.
And for the entire season, she’s just waiting and waiting for it to come out. And it ends with her collapsing and realizing that it’s not coming out. Were you surprised at that choice? Had Dan let you know that was always sort of in the cards?
Yeah, I knew. No, Dan is lovely and open about where he’s taking us. And you know, gives us a heads up and he’s always invited me to collaborate, since day one. The whole show is very inclusive in every way. So yeah, I knew where it was going and I think it’s a great way to go. Because you know, Moira’s had the hardest time accepting their life. And damned and determined not to accept it. Not to ever look like she’ll ever fit in, into this town. She’s been damned and determined to never fit in and to keep holding the faith that Johnny is going to get them out of there. And when she gets this break, which some might look at as a sad opportunity, no, less than an opportunity, doing the film in Bosnia, the Crows movie. You know, she makes the best of it. She gives her 200 percent. But getting that movie in Bosnia, and believing that it was going to be at least half their ticket out of this town, it relaxed her. She relaxed in a way that she could sort of stop and look around and be at the least curious about the people in this town. And a little more open to having friendships and getting involved. Knowing, or believing, wanting to believe, that she had an out. So now, “O.K., I don’t have to be so threatened by this life and these people.” She was relaxed.
But now the out is gone.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. But it made for a slightly different Moira. And what’s great about that is not only that it’s pathetic and funny in a pathetic way. But that now season six can begin with good old Moira, damned and determined to get out.
How much of the character, for you, is putting on her extravagant, out-there clothing and the different wigs that never seem to end?
Well, I believe Moira did start out in a small town, that’s partly why she is more threatened than anyone. She got out already in her life. And now she’s back. And as I think her wardrobe is her armor and her defense. And her wardrobe and her hair, “This is who I am, and this is who I plan to be again. This is who I was. This is who I am inside. And it’s who I plan to be again.” And I love whenever we shoot scenes where I’m walking in town. When we actually go on location, and I have that wardrobe and those heels. It’s really important.I asked them originally if I could do the wigs and wear a different wig according to my whim. According to [her] emotional stability or instability, or you know, daily fashion sense. It was partly because, again, it’s armor. It is a helmet. And it signals the world, you know, who I can be besides who you think I am in this town. And it shows how creative Moira is.
Have you taken anything, any of Moira’s outfits, or anything or your own personal use? Have you, like, snuck anything away?
No, I haven’t snuck anything away yet. But I definitely plan to take as much as I can. No, I already was invited to go to wardrobe. I am getting first dibs. Which is nice. But I’ve already gone to the wardrobe department and looked through all the Moira racks, and I set my own rack aside. I still have to go and do some, you know, to try some things on again, to see, you know, really, really what am I thinking here. But there are so many beautiful pieces. I’m not sure I would put them all together the way our great costume designer and Daniel Levy have done for Moira. But there are just so many beautiful pieces that I wore, yeah. But then, the show is going to have a wardrobe sale, which Daniel is asked about all the time. And yeah, so then it will be open to people beyond the cast.
Eugene has said that he realized that the show was growing in popularity when he started going through airports and people would come up to him and talk to him about “Schitt’s Creek” more than they ever had before. I’m curious, has anything like that happened to you?
I would say, just days after Netflix started showing it. It was like we were in a different world. People talking to us about “Schitt’s Creek.” Because before that, for me, it was always, you know, “Home Alone” and it still is, thankfully. But you know, it was mostly be people, you know, in their, I guess, late 20s, 30s, who were Macaulay’s age, basically. Who grew up with it. So, yeah, right away that made a difference. I mean, our Canadian viewers have been very kind since the beginning. And CBC here has been just great about promoting it. First of all, great about letting Eugene and Daniel make the show they wanted to make. But then supporting it really beautifully. Pop Network supported it really well in the US, but [it] just needed that boost from Netflix. I’ll tell you what’s really shocking, though, especially the first time we did it, was these live shows that we’re doing. I don’t know if Daniel told you.
He did.
I think the first one was in LA at the Ace Hotel. And we were just sort of let’s see if there is an audience. It sold out in a couple of hours. And the crowd was, I don’t know. I could say, I’m misquoting John Lennon, it made us feel, we’re now bigger than The Beatles. It’s crazy how kind and sweet our audience is, in person. The show is really written with a lot of love. And produced with a lot of love. And we seem to attract a very loving crowd.
Dan talked about the decision in the fourth season to really focus on the characters’ relationships and that it just became a sweeter show. Were you surprised when you started getting the scripts and seeing this?
Not at all. Really, it’s been a loving story since the beginning. You know, I defended us from the first episode. People would say, “Oh you’re entitled asses, this family, the Roses.” And I always say, “O.K., I’m sorry, how would you react to your whole life, whatever your life is, was being ripped out from under you?” As Moira, I have never given Johnny a hard time about it. I think we had one little argument in the second season or something, and it lasted five minutes. You know, we are a loving couple. We are happy and grateful to be getting to know our children who we had let loose all these years, and never known. That has been, you know, the story since the beginning. Moira’s had a hard time in this town, but we’ve never mistreated anyone. They’ve never mistreated us. The townfolks are, you know, completely cool. I think other shows might have tried to make a joke out of, you know, who any of these people are. The Roses or the townsfolk. And the show has never done that. You know, we all have our faults, but only as much as every human does.
There are so many people who are rooting for you to get an Emmy nomination.
Oh, dear. That’s nice of them.
How do you feel about that? Does it feel surreal having starred in “For Your Consideration”?
Yes, I guess that’s a simple answer, yes, it does. Hopefully, I would learn some from playing that role in “For Your Consideration.” And I, I mean, I never tried to take it too seriously. I’ve always thought, you know, you cannot take the praise any more seriously than you take the criticism. Or if you take the praise seriously, you’re going to have to give the same credibility to the criticism. Any praise or kindness that comes my way, you know, I always say it’s better than a kick in the head. And I love it. Of course, I love it, I’m only human. But you know, I try not, I really try not to take it seriously. And it’s you know, it’s all lovely.
Obviously, you are all shooting the final season. Does it make you want to do another regular series again? Do you know what sort of roles you’re looking forward to doing down the road?
I can’t believe I got to do this series now, at this time in my life. And it’s so rare that stories involving characters over 60 are not just about death, disease, and divorce. Because sadly, that’s the way it is in real life. That those are more commonly the story that we share. And to get to be this ridiculous, and silly. I’m no Daniel. I can’t write but I can’t speak. But see, the interactions that families normally have are completely new to this family. There’s an innocence that we’ve been allowed to play. Because we never really knew each other before this. I mean, the kids, you know, Alexis and David did in their own way. And Johnny and Moira have a good, deep, loving relationship. But as a family, parents and children, this is all new. And it’s innocent. And I think that’s rare. I don’t know where I’d get to play that kind of story again. And the wardrobe. The wardrobe, the wigs. The being able to collaborate, to play with my dialogue, to add more insanely lovely, archaic words to my dialogue. I don’t expect to have this kind of opportunity again, and I don’t, also being lazy, I don’t know if I’d want to work this many hours on anything else.
“Schitt’s Creek” seasons 1-4 are available on Netflix. Seasons 1-5 are available on POP TV.