Annie Murphy was convinced she didn’t get ‘Schitt’s Creek’ role when Dan Levy called

The role of Alexis Rose came at the perfect time in Annie Murphy’s career, but Dan Levy made her believe she didn’t land the part.

In a recent episode of the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast, Murphy recalled the audition process for Schitt’s Creek, during which she tried out for ditzy daughter Alexis and grumpy motel front desk clerk Stevie.

The opportunity to work on Schitt’s Creek came to Murphy at a difficult time in her life when she had doubted her future in Hollywood and grappled with losing her home in Toronto.

“I felt like I was going to get Stevie because Stevie felt more like me,” Murphy said. “And I’m so glad I got the part that I did because it was a character.”

Weeks passed, however, and Murphy did not hear back. Finally, Levy, the show’s co-creator, called her. But instead of sharing the good news right away, Levy toyed with her a bit before officially offering her the job.

“I got a call from Dan and he was like, ‘Hey, just wanted to thank you so much for all the effort and all the time that you put in. Yeah, we really appreciated it so much,'” Murphy recalled. “And that’s what people say when they’re about to be like, ‘F— you, we went with someone else.’ And I was like, ‘Okay, thanks so much.'” And then I was signing off the call and he was like, ‘Just one quick thing, um, do you want to play my sister on the show?'”

The call changed her life, she said. But in the middle of the call, before Levy shared the good news, she thought: “Please put me out of my misery.”

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Murphy said she fell into a sibling dynamic with Levy, who plays her on-screen brother David, immediately, adding that doing the show was so fun, she hopes for a possible Schitt’s Creek movie one day.

Listen to the whole Not Skinny But Not Fat episode with Murphy below.