Eugene Levy doesn’t think he’s funny — and he’s not kidding.
Talk to the Canadian film and television icon about his career and he’s pretty adamant that he isn’t funny. For him, it’s all about the character.
“It always comes down to my own kind of psychiatric approach to myself, which is that I’ve spent my career in comedy, and I don’t think I’m a funny person,” Levy tells Variety. “My laughs come through the characters I do, so character work has always been a big thing for me. If I’m playing a character, I can be funny.”
But for nearly 50 years, audiences have disagreed with him. They believe he is funny. In fact, Levy has spent his career being so instinctively and dependably funny that he’s often the best part of the projects he’s in — even if only for one or two scenes. From his sketch-comedy start with “SCTV,” to the awkward dad of a generation in “American Pie,” to the steady hand amid small-town shenanigans in “Schitt’s Creek,” and dozens of films in between, Eugene has built a legacy on not only being funny, but being the kind of treasured talent that audiences know they can count on.
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“I think his success is that he’s always found the heartbeat of whatever character he has chosen to play,” says his son, Daniel Levy, who co-created “Schitt’s Creek” with his dad. “A lot of people overlook the value of that — the warmth of a character, the empathy that you extract from them. All of his work is tied together by his ability to find that. I think that’s why he gets hired to do these parts that are not necessarily the largest role but offer warmth to a kind of comedic project that needs it.”
For his career of standout roles, major and minor, Levy senior will be honored on March 8 with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The honor arrives as he embarks on a second voyage with his most out-of-character role yet — himself. As the host of Apple TV+’s unscripted series “The Reluctant Traveler,” the 77-year-old sheds the character-actor persona to face his deep-rooted aversion to packing a bag and exploring extravagant, culturally rich locales. It’s an ironic career pivot considering just how tightly he’s clung to the protective shell of a character.
“Literally everything up until this current job has been a character,” he says. “But this is me, and I’ve had to get comfortable being myself on camera, which has been a pretty major thing. The fact that it happened in the twilight of my career, so to speak, I think was kind of a good thing.”
In the new episodes, he traces his deeply personal roots in Scotland, herds sheep in Germany and even dines with Joan Collins in Saint-Tropez. The witty, globe-trotting hit is a far cry from his upbringing in Canada — and not just geographically.
“I can’t get the ‘I’m just a kid from Hamilton’ voice out of the back of my head,” he says. “Everything that happened to that kid has kind of been a big deal. Just getting my first job in Toronto was a big deal.”
That first job was joining a group of unknown twentysomethings, including Martin Short, Andrea Martin, Gilda Radner and Victor Garber for a 1972 stage production of “Godspell.” “It is always fun working with people you absolutely adore, and that’s what we were doing [in “Godspell”] and on ‘SCTV.’”
Most of the “Godspell” cast were also members of Toronto’s Second City theater troupe, along with future stars like John Candy and Harold Ramis. In 1976, the group took their show to the airwaves by launching the Canadian television staple “SCTV,” a sketch comedy series about a fictitious TV station that produces its own off-kilter programming.
“The great thing about ‘SCTV’ was the inmates were running the asylum and the product also happened to be really good,” Levy laughs. “We were the purveyors of our own future.”
Catherine O’Hara got her start at Second City. It’s there that she first met Levy, the man who would become the most frequent scene partner of her career.
“He welcomed me right from the beginning,” O’Hara says of the actor. “He was then and always has been a very thoughtful writer and actor. Very thoughtful in that he won’t say no to an idea right away. He considers the collaboration and everything on offer with someone. He’s just a good man to be around, and that’s a big part of working with someone. They can be really talented, but do you want to spend an hour with them? I’ve spent many hours with Eugene if that says anything.”
During “SCTV’s” run, Levy honed his skills as a writer, creating popular characters like comedian Bobby Bittman, news anchor Earl Camembert and “Money Talks” host Brian Johns. Writing is his comfort zone, where he can fine-tune the humor and the character to what he does best. But after the show ended its American run in 1984, he began a two-decade run of supporting or small parts in movies like “Splash,” “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” “Father of the Bride,” “Bringing Down the House,” “Serendipity” and “Josie and the Pussycats.” In every single one, he was unforgettable.
“I spent the bulk of my career getting paid to come in for a few scenes and my job was to make people laugh, and then I could get out,” he says. “I didn’t have anything to carry. I didn’t have any story, no exposition, none of that stuff.”
Those roles cemented Levy in the cultural consciousness, but he can carry anything when given the chance. He got it with 1996’s “Waiting for Guffman.”
Alongside his co-writer and director Christopher Guest, Levy formed a new troupe of actors for a quartet of beloved improv mockumentaries starting with “Guffman,” followed by “Best in Show,” “A Mighty Wind” and “For Your Consideration.” The films are among his most acclaimed work and were the first time he forged a true partnership with O’Hara, playing married dog-show newbies in “Best in Show” and a folk musical duo in “A Mighty Wind.”
“Eugene is so good in those movies because he takes the comedy seriously,” O’Hara says. “We both do. That’s why we work so well together.”
Daniel’s favorite role of his father’s is “A Mighty Wind,” in which he plays the emotionally fragile Mitch Cohen, who is still reeling from the implosion of his musical partnership with former lover, Mickey (O’Hara).
“I think about all the things he could have done with that character, and it takes a lot of conviction and courage to make the choices he did and stick the landing,” Daniel says. “I know that he questioned it a lot and came home thinking he didn’t know what he was doing with it. But I remember being so proud of him watching that movie because that character was, at times, very funny, but also real and warm. That requires a lot of great instincts.”
The senior Levy won a Grammy for the film’s title song (alongside co-writers Guest and Michael McKean).
While lauded, his collaborations with Guest existed in a completely different corner of Hollywood than his other 1990s and early 2000s work, especially considering the vast majority of moviegoers knew him simply as “Jim’s dad.” The character from 1999’s hit teen comedy “American Pie” handed Levy something he hadn’t yet experienced — global fame.
“I know when we’re doing [“The Traveler”] all over the world, the one thing people recognize me for is ‘American Pie,’” Levy says. “Still to this day, it is crazy how that is the one. It was great fun, and I did a few of them.”
He did eight of them — four big-screen installments and four direct-to-DVD spinoffs. The only reason Jim’s dad could be the unlikely thread through the franchise was because of what Levy did with the role. While hilariously inelegant, Jim’s dad resonated as an endearing stand-in for the supportive parent most teens never knew they wanted, even under outrageous pie-related circumstances.
Levy is humble about how much of himself and his humor made that role successful, but no one recognized it better than his son. “Apparently the character of Jim’s dad was originally harder and a lot more crass,” Daniel remembers. “But my dad accepted the part with the understanding he would change that character. That work really warms up Jim’s dad and makes him more empathetic and sweeter. That character gave something special to this gross-out comedy and balanced the scales of that movie.”
“American Pie” wasn’t Eugene Levy’s only cultural resurgence. After forming their production company, Not a Real Company Prods., father and son created a TV series following a wealthy, out-of-touch family that loses their fortune and has to retreat to the only asset they have left — a small town they jokingly bought for its funny name, “Schitt’s Creek.”
The CBC series debuted in 2015 with the elder Levy playing Johnny Rose, a former movie rental company magnate and strait-laced ringmaster of his family’s big personalities. The series reunited him with O’Hara as Johnny’s eccentric actress wife, Moira, alongside Daniel as their sarcastic yet sensible son, David, and Annie Murphy as their aloof but lovable daughter, Alexis. Although he beams when he talks about the series, Levy is honest about how much he wrestled with the writing process at first.
“When I got on ‘Schitt’s Creek’ and I was in the room with the writers, that was a tough thing for me because I am so used to writing on my own,” he says. “I’m used to taking things where I want to take them, and when you are in a room with writers, which I had never done before, ideas are flying across the table.”
But it was tough with a little “t.” Johnny Rose may have been the straightest character and the most dramatic work of his career, but he adores the role. It’s O’Hara’s favorite.
“It’s because I lived with that character for six years,” she says. “He’s so real to me and Eugene was just so good. He doesn’t see the characters as himself, but of course he’s bringing all his great humor to Johnny Rose. And I loved that Eugene and I chose to make them a loving couple, even though it took a while for them to appreciate their kids.”
After being licensed to Netflix and becoming a massive hit, “Schitt’s Creek’s” final season swept every major comedy category at the 2020 Primetime Emmys, including Levy’s win for lead actor — shockingly, his first acting Emmy. It remains the only series to ever accomplish the sweep.
In his 70s, Levy had his biggest hit yet. The series spawned merchandise, live cast tours and a level of success he’s still reckoning with today.
“I think ‘Schitt’s Creek’ was a different way of telling a story for me,” he says. “There was more of me in that character than anything I have ever done. And I am glad it happened when it did. If it had happened earlier in my career, would it have been better or given me more choices in terms of what to do next or maybe get more into dramatic work? I don’t know, maybe. But I am happy things are happening when they are happening.”
His son wants his dad to take another lesson from it.
“I hope this whole experience taught him that he does have the capacity to hold down any project as the star and not just be the great character actor that comes in, gets their laugh and leaves,” Daniel says. “He deserves his place at the center of the story, being more than just the comedy. He has always been the heart, the soul and the comedy.”
TIPSHEET
WHAT: Eugene Levy receives a star on the Walk of Fame.
WHEN March 8, 11:30 a.m.
WHERE 7080 Hollywood Blvd.
WEB walkfoffame.com