This story was first published in January 2020.
Vulture is republishing it in honor of the series finale ofSchitts Creek.
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But so much of the minutiae and nuances of who she was really came when Catherine got onboard.
(Dan, as you might expect, had zero qualms about this plan.)
One, that Moira be incapable of accepting that she really did live in Schitts Creek.
I thought,Theyll want me to quickly accept this new life and embrace this town.
I wanted to be able to show how awful it was for her.
Her other early sticking point: Moira was not to be mean-spirited.
In the pilot, Moira was full of insults to anyone, especially townsfolk.
I think their idea was to have her be very dry and funny and caustic, OHara said.
Instead of a futile bitterness, I wanted there to be a weird optimism.
Dan Levy also remembers OHaras insistence that Moira not be a snob.
How fortunate for all these humble Schitts Creek residents to learn from someone so worldly and sophisticated!
I can teach them something about the English language and how beautiful it can be.
I can bless them with what I know.
Its about kindness, and the power of love and acceptance.
Theres nobody that is mean on our show.
I said bebe as a joke or a mistake the first time, OHara said.
Once I hit on bebe and got a laugh from the crew, that was it.
A bonus for OHara: I just love having an excuse to look up arcane words.
I was greedy about it, she said.
Its all black-and-white and wildly expensive, Cruella de Vil by way of Alexander McQueen.
But Moiras outfits arent just flashy statements.
OHaras vision was to avoid your typical snooty rich that you see in old family comedies, she said.
I just wanted to be avant garde.
Along with costume designer Debra Hanson, Levy prowled for the just-right designer clothes to fill out Moiras closet.
(Cooper, who passed away in late 2018, didnt officially work on the series.)
I was trying to sell the idea of the wigs and that made everyone nervous, OHara recalled.
And I said, It can be spontaneous, it should look like [Moira] did it.
Moira just has so much to show, she believes, but doesnt know quite what that is yet.
I can be different.
I can still grow.
Bromhead and OHara knew they wanted red lips.
Red lipstick is such a statement.
You have to step into wearing a red lipstick, said Bromhead.
And thats who Moira is.
And she never really takes off her makeup, either.
We were like, is it the color of the red?
Is it a specific shade?
Catherine said, I want to try something.
She took the pencil and drew these oversize lips.
As soon as that happened, her whole face changed.
That was the click: her lips.
(By the way, its Ruby Woo by Mac.)
Shes such a funny, lovable character who is just not compromising at all.
And I actually think thats very relatable, Levy said.
Theres such a lovely effervescence and confidence and sexiness to Moira that I dont think we see a lot.
Theres magic in Catherine OHara, Levy said.
She has an eight-octave comedic range.
And I dont think any of us really do.
Favorite breakthrough moment:I remember shootingthe enchiladas scene, Levy said.
It was one of the first times that I came to her with a note …
I tiptoed in, pulled her aside, and whispered, Do you think Moira might say AHN-chilada?
And she was like, YES!
I would love to have had the time to show them in their entirety.
