Dan Levy Says Catherine O'Hara Rewrote Entire 'Schitt's Creek' Scenes: 'Irreplaceable Talent and an Irreplaceable Person'

Dan Levy is sharing how Catherine O'Hara influenced the creative process on Schitt's Creek.

Levy was a guest on Conan O'Brien's podcast, Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend, on Monday, April 20, where he recalled what it was like working with O'Hara on the hit sitcom.

In the episode, O'Brien told Levy, "I remembered thinking it was such a nice thing for Catherine to have that role during that last decade of her life, where she was playing someone who was beloved, because people love the character and they're really getting to see yet another way that she's really funny. … It was such a nice thing for her that you made happen."

Levy responded to O'Brien and shared, ""She made it happen. I just made sure that I was prepared. That's really what it came down to. Like so much of Moira Rose was Catherine." He then recalled hearing from Seth Rogan how O'Hara would often send emails before a shoot "Gentlemen, some thoughts about the scenes we're shooting tomorrow," and "it would be a full top-to-tail rewrite."

"And as soon as he said it, it was like: I got those emails. The ‘gentleman' - it always started with ‘gentlemen, some thoughts' - and then it was an unbelievable rewrite of the scene," Levy said. "And that is what the amazing, all the great Catherine roles were when she found collaborators that wanted to give her that platform," Levy said.

He continued, "You know, because she had so much to offer, and she was so, the way that she thinks is so on another level that as a writer, you can't get into her head. So all you can really do is set the table, wait for the email, ‘gentlemen, some thoughts,' read the scene and say, ‘Fuck yeah.' You know, and like, just be prepared."

O'Hara passed away on Jan. 30 in her Los Angeles home following a brief illness. She was 71.

Levy reflected on her life and career, telling O'Brien, "She's impossible not to love and she's, it's impossible not to laugh with her in anything she does. And it's, it is like an unimaginable loss. She was just an irreplaceable talent and an irreplaceable person."

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This story was originally published April 20, 2026 at 10:13 AM.