Dan Levy says Emmy noms are ‘icing on the cake’ but Canada’s love is his real success
"I’ve never really considered success in America to be a Canadian success," he told etalk over the phone. "To me, we had our success story when Canada loved the show from Day 1. That was the Canadian success story for us. I think everything else has been the icing on the cake."
He added that while it's nice American and international audiences alike have fallen in love with the show, his real win is showcasing Canadian talent—both onscreen and behind the camera—for the entire world to see.
"The fact that we get to share the work of our Canadian cast and crew on the world stage has been, to me, the success story," Dan said. "I think awards are obviously great, but it’s the work—it’s the work being seen that’s the true payoff. And, obviously, the Emmys—the height of American television—is certainly something none of us saw coming."
"It's obviously extra meaningful knowing it’s the last season and, you know, you want to do right by your team in the last season of your show, especially when we’ve grown so close," he continued. "I also think a show that’s as small as ours—to have somehow managed to get to a place where you receive 15 Emmy nominations… I mean, it’s just not—it doesn’t happen that often."
He noted that while the world was catching onto their little Canadian comedy, things were pretty business as usual for the whole Schitt's Creek team.
"For all of us shooting the show up in Canada, nothing about the show changed," Dan explained. "I mean, obviously the scope of it changed but nothing about the actual infrastructure—the size or even the budget—none of those things changed. So for all of us who were working on the show, it’s kind of like we’ve always seen this as a very little tiny television show that people seemed to kind of enjoy. And now to have this, it’s truly… it’s remarkable. It’s seemingly impossible."
Dan may have been "speechless" when he first learned of the nominations, but those are some pretty beautiful words he was able to cobble together for the fans.
Schitt's Creek was recognized across the board for acting, writing and production. The show was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series and all four main leads—including Dan Levy, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara and Annie Murphy—were nominated for their performances as the Rose family. The show also received nominations for casting, costume design, hair styling, makeup, directing, editing, sound mixing and writing.
Eugene Levy echoed his son's appreciation for every talented person who contributed to the series, tweeting: "Such a nod of recognition for the work of every talented soul who worked on our show!"
While the nominations certainly made for an exciting day all around, Dan took the added visibility on his social media pages to amplify crucial political injustices. He reminded followers that the officers responsible for Breonna Taylor's shooting—Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove—have yet to be arrested; called attention to the extrajudicial kidnapping of a transgender protester by law enforcement in New York; and encouraged American fans to request their vote-by-mail ballot in his Instagram stories.
Schitt's Creek has never been an overly political show, but Dan Levy is damn sure going to use its platform to call for social and political justice.
