Sarah Levy – Schitt’s Creek

By starrymag | January 30, 2019

By: Lisa Steinberg

 

 

Q) What makes POP such a good home for “Schitt’s creek?”

A) I have found that Netflix has so many dramas and I just get sucked into all these hour-long dramas for seasons on end and rarely I find you come across comedy to binge that’s not like “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” or something short and sweet at twenty-one minutes. The time flies! You can watch like six episodes in two hours.

Q) The Roses last season ended off with a lot of stability in their lives after five seasons and seemed on solid ground. What can you share might shake that up this season?

A) It’s so funny because I’m always so hesitant to blow something when I don’t know if it is something I can say. It is less about shaking up the stability and more about the Roses growing even further and integrating themselves even further into the town and the people in the town. It becomes more about situations versus relationships in peril. But I would say it follows a lot of the same lines as Season Four did. We’ve got musicals. We’ve got a couple situations that will tug at the heart strings, but it’s really the Roses continuing to find their footing and almost enjoying it now at this point.

Q) On my local news they were talking about the series but said they couldn’t even say the name of the show.

A) Yes! That’s been interesting because as my dad keeps saying, he’s getting increasingly frustrated because he’s thinking this is a real last name. “Schitt” is in the phonebook. And his argument is that if there was a Larry Schitt on the news you’d have to say “Larry Schitt” because that’s his name. So, what’s the difference between that and this? It’s the same. Especially on daytime television, it just can’t happen. I think I was watching “The Today Show” and they said they would get fined if they said it. Everyone needs to just relax. Just relax!

Q) What I love is that family dynamics that really translate to the town as well. What are the townspeople of Schitt’s Creek taking away from the Roses as much as visa verse?

A) I think especially with characters like Jocelyn (Jennifer Robertson) and Twyla who have formed relationships…Jocelyn with Moira (Catherine O’Hara), as much as they have a love/hate relationship there actually is a fairly strong bond there. With Twyla and Alexis (Annie Murphy), they are actually around the same age. They come from completely different places and Twyla does become a little bit of the voice of reason for Alexis in their heart to hearts at the café. I always love those scenes so much because working with Annie is one of my absolute favorite parts about doing the show. But it’s really wonderful to see these relationships between these characters that are so different really grow and they can give each other advice and lean on each other. I think it really speaks to the Rose family and how much they have opened up and allowed themselves to let go of – not necessarily their past…Well, I guess a little bit of it to enjoy being there and form these relationships with people they probably would never have come across or had much time for had they not lost all their money. It’s going to be interesting to see what might happen. There has been so much growth that has happened already, even though they’re still arguing, and the sarcastic comments haven’t stopped by any means. But they have let their guard down with each other and everyone else in the town. It’s nice for us townsfolk to be able to see that growth.

Q) The hallmark of the series is this balance of laughter and love, and that the show feels so pure. Even in the bickering it’s not out of spite, it’s out of love and encouragement. What is it about the show that really just warms your heart while tickling it too?

A) Yeah! I think at the end of the day, there is no maliciousness in any of it. Even though the Rose family at one time thought they were better than everyone else…Even in the first season when we were just being introduced to the characters, everything was on a lighter note. There wasn’t anything that was so mean that it made them unlikeable. I think there is a relatability to the show in that somebody can relate to every character and that’s what I’ve really gotten from people that have come up to me or talked to me about the show, from young to old – from ten years old to seventy-five – and I have to think if that’s the case, there clearly is that element of love there that draws people of all ages in. I think as Daniel [Levy] has said before, especially in the political climate now, no matter what stance you take it’s a heated time and everyone is looking for a little break. To be able to completely take yourself out of the world that we’re living in right now and live in this world where certain things just don’t exist – hate doesn’t exist, homophobia doesn’t exist – I think people are gravitating towards it because it’s such a breath of fresh air and a little peek inside to what life might be like if everyone was just accepting of each other. I think that’s really what people love most. The feedback I think we’ve all been getting is just that. There is a gentleness to it without it being soft. It’s gentle. There is care taken in making sure that even when there is tension it either neither turns soapy or it never turns too hard or too dramatic. At the end of the day, love is the thing for all of these character – whether it is a love for a friend or peer, love between Moira and Jocelyn or even between Roland (Chris Elliott) and Johnny (Eugene Levy). Then, there are the real relationships like Patrick (Noah Reid) and David (Daniel Levy) and Ted (Dustin Milligan) and Alexis. There is love in so many different forms and it’s kind of a nice little lesson in a way.

Q) We last left Twyla at the dating event, what can we expect to explore for her this season? Is she taking any chances and learning from Alexis’ leap? I loved her relationship with Mutt, but I feel like there was more possibilities for them.

A) Twyla is such a question mark. She’s so lovably bizarre. I just never know what I’m going to get with her, especially when we read each episode. I think with Twyla she is again along for the ride and as zany as she is sometimes or out of it she might appear, she kind of has a bit of a bird’s eye view on the whole situation. I think she sees everything from a removed place and then is able to offer her whatever expertise she may have on situations. But I’m hoping that there is love in Twyla’s future. She started out with Mutt (Tim Rozon) and there was love. So, it’ll be interesting to see, but I do think she’s a character that doesn’t long for it per se. I think she’s definitely excited when there is a prospective and even with the end of her relationship with Mutt, I think it was a sad moment for her for sure, but she’s not the type of women who needs it. She’s quite content as an independent woman. So, if someone comes along that suits her that’s awesome, but I don’t think she is one to actively seek it. Although, there is a night out at the bar last season. I think she’s definitely having fun. I think Alexis really helps her bring that out as well because if it were up to her, I think she is a creature of comfort and habit. Because Alexis is so forward with pretty much everything in her life (especially with men), it’s been a nice push for Twyla and to have Alexis pushing her because she knows she needs it.

Q) Twyla’s wide-eyed perpetual optimism and vulnerability is what really endears her to me. She has no walls or guards, she’s sort of the small town opposite of the Roses but she still empathizes and gravitates towards them. She’s a breath of sunlight even when someone tries to darken her clouds, though she may not know it. What really connects you with her and the viewers?

A) That’s been one of my favorite parts about her. She’s totally vulnerable. She’s exactly who she is and not hiding anything. She ahs a really dark past. We’re constantly revealing really dark things about her family. [laughs] But there is always this sunniness to her, and I always interpret that as a lack of judgment on herself, on her situation or on her the Rose family. She’s not hiding anything and is aware that this is my family, and this is what is happening. That’s fine. That’s my family. The Roses are your family. We’re all here and we’re all just trying to make it through and we all might as well do it with a smile.

Q) We know from comments Twyla has made she has had kind of a rough childhood home. Did you create a backstory and what really contributed to who she is?

A) All of it has made her a stronger person and there is always a positive in those dark moments. She has for some reason found a way to spin it into a positive. And she always does. There is no sadness about it. There is no wishing that things were different. She’s accepted it for what it is and found what little positivity you can find in her uncle having three fingers and only speaking through sign languages.

Q) Is there something that specifically connects you to her or have you created a backstory for her?

A) The writers are so good in keeping her past very colorful, which I love. But I think it’s interesting because we are very different in a lot of ways; however, I think the thing that connects me most to her is her positivity. I really connect to that. I think it’s really needed and it’s something that I try to put forward in my every day life. To be able to be consistently vulnerable and not in a “heart on your sleeve all of the time kind of way, but just open,” is something that I think we all need to be better at. I think it would help a lot of things in this world if we were all just a little more vulnerable. I’ve attached to that extremely with her, having played her for five years now.

Q) We love seeing the Jazzagals perform! What songs have they played around with that may not have gotten cleared?

A) I love the Jazzagals! It’s one of my favorite things to do – one, because I am a singer. I’m extremely musical and to be able to incorporate that into an acting job is a dream. And all of these women, it’s all real. It’s all live. Everything that you hear the Jazzagals sing is live. All of those women can sing. It’s so exciting when we get songs! Even “Silent Night,” which we sang for the Christmas episode, it was one of my dreams to be able to sing because it’s such a beautiful song – especially acapella with eight women taking four-part harmony. Everything that we’ve been able to sing has thankfully been cleared. But somebody had suggested a Jazzagals Christmas album and I died over that! I was like, “That needs to happen at some point!” We have an arranger, a guy named Aaron, who is incredible and arranges all the harmonies. We have extensive rehearsals for songs like that, which are a couple minutes long. We love doing it! We love it! Catherine wouldn’t say that she is a singer per se, but she has a great voice and she’s very musical. She just gets such a kick out of it. Moira’s audition for the Jazzagals was SO funny. Even at the table read, she just didn’t hold back. What she did shooting was exactly what she did during the table read and nobody could breathe we were all laughing so hard.

Q) What is a typical table read like?

A) It’s so much fun. Everyone looks forward to them and really learning what’s happening next because we have no idea until we sit down and read it.

Q) I love the ever-ongoing evolution of Twyla and Alexis’ friendship. Sometimes Twyla is more of a project than a friend for her though. How does she see the relationship between her and the one compared to Moira’s?

A) We both are able to teach each other things and are able to learn things. When it comes to men or fashion or anything like that, there is always the power dynamic as Alexis as the alpha. Then, when it comes to relationship advice for example with Ted or whomever it is I feel like there is a bit of a role reversal and Twyla takes a little bit of the power to gently help Alexis understand why she is wrong per se or why she might be a little bit selfish. [laughs] She will put a couple examples in there to illustrate that maybe what she is doing isn’t the best and I think that’s why their relationship works so well. They really lean on each other and they confide in each other. I don’t think that Alexis has really had, up until Schitt’s Creek, any true meaningful friendships with women. For the David and Alexis, everything is fleeting and there is money everywhere. And that doesn’t necessarily attract the best, kindest people – just people who can run in the circle with you. I think that’s why Alexis has really gravitated towards Twyla as well because Twyla is not after her for anything. She’s not trying to get anything from her. She doesn’t need anything and that’s new and refreshing for Alexis.

Q) Twyla isn’t using her for her money or clout, much like we saw Alexis’s old friends who resurfaced for a moment.

A) Right? Oh my gosh. [laughs] That was so much fun and also to be a part of that scene as an observer…To see where Alexis has come…Twyla knows her as a different person. She didn’t know her during that time or times so what I know is that this Alexis has really made growth and then to default back to whatever it is with those horrible girls that come in you really realize what she must have been like when she was also one of those girls. And how rude they are to Twyla and how they just dismiss her because she’s a waitress and the kind of side eyes that Alexis and Twyla would make to each other knowing how crazy this all seems now having been out of it for so long. The thing that I love most is that there was never…As much as Alexis will make these side comments to Twyla about something she’s wearing or a piece of jewelry, there has always been a level of respect and a true level of friendship there. There are these wonderful, tender moments that they have together, and they are behind each other 100%. It’s something that, again, we need to find more of in our every day lives, especially with women.

Q) And neither one goes after one another over Mutt, who both still have feelings for.

A) Totally! Especially after the first season when Twyla and Mutt break up, I think Twyla knows deep down that their relationship just wasn’t right and that’s okay. Even though Alexis started dating him, the maturity level on both of their ends to acknowledge – for Twyla it’s “this relationship didn’t work for me and I see this relationship potentially working for you and if that’s the case then that is okay and I’m okay with it and you’re happiness is all that matters at the end of the day.”

Q) What do you see for the future of comedy and what boundaries and buttons are left to push with “Schitt’s Creek?”

A) I think there have been a lot of articles that I’ve seen about the show that are saying how refreshingly nice it is and we have touched on that, but I know a lot of shows push boundaries in every different way. Shows are afraid of just being kind and nice because I think they’re worried that if that is the case then they are going to be looked at as too soft and not enough of an edge. I think Daniel has found a really wonderful balance of being edgy and kind at the same time and those can coexist. I think for a long time we’ve felt like they can’t. So, (especially now as we move forward in 2019) it’s important to promote kindness. It seems so basic and general, but kindness doesn’t necessarily equal bad and soft doesn’t necessarily equal bad. I think that in the past we’ve though that – to put forward messages of love and hopefulness and respect as well as everything else is something that we need to take a closer look at. I’m so thrilled to be a part of a show that has made that happen so far. If we can make that happen, everyone can make it happen. If we can just integrate those messages in comedy and drama…but I think it’s easier in comedy…Just as we’ve shown same sex relationships and no pushback on pan sexuality or any of that in this world that we’ve created, hopefully it becomes just the norm. I think in entertainment there is a responsibility of creating and setting examples for that, creating a better world through television and movies, because whether we like it or not there is an integration into our every day life with film and television.