If your heart is still a little tender thinking about the emotional finale of Schitt’s Creek, you aren’t the only one. A week after the series came to an end, cocreator Dan Levy made a remote appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden to basically make us all cry again.
The nighttime host asked Levy about his emotional journey during filming up until the finale aired on April 7, noting that the show accomplished the difficult task of “getting the finale episode of a series right.” Levy admitted that filming the finale was surprisingly emotional, but it really hit him when the cast watched the episode together over Zoom.
Another big emotional moment for the showrunner was featured in the show’s documentary special, which aired directly after the finale. Costar Noah Reid read an extraordinary letter penned by the Mama Bears, a group comprised of mothers to children of the LGBTQ+ community, expressing their thanks to Levy for his “commitment to represent love and tolerance” on his show. Be warned, you will be hit by the feels from the video ahead. Even Corden couldn’t keep a sheen away from his eyes while talking about it.
“I think as a gay person, all you try to do is represent your experience. And in my case, I hadn’t necessarily seen my experience represented that much on TV,” Levy said when asked what the letter meant to him. “To hear that those stories affected people in such profound ways, and affected change in people’s homes and made people feel safe, it’s overwhelming. Because I think back to my own childhood where I didn’t necessarily have those people around. I was feeling really unsure about where I’d go and what I’d do. It’s a full-circle moment that was very overwhelming.”
Then Corden brought up Levy’s own mother, who left a message for her son on the day of the series finale to congratulate him. “Today I regret every single second of worry back in the uninformed 80’s-wondering how the world was going to treat my brilliant little boy who loved to twirl,” she tweeted out on April 7. “Little did I know that he was going to kick that old world’s ass to the curb and create a brand new one.” If your eyes have officially welled over, you are totally not alone — please pass us the tissues.
This. Love you, mom. https://t.co/mhq9g5hpr9
— dan levy (@danjlevy) April 7, 2020
“I was a complete mess, it completely killed me,” Levy admitted, wiping away tears. “And I think for her to say that so publicly, I can only assume that it meant so much to a lot of people too because that’s the power of support and that’s the power of encouragement and acceptance . . . I think there’s so much fear associated still to this day with parents looking at their queer children and wondering whether they’re going to turn out OK. For her to sort of say that and champion me in that kind of way, it’s very lovely.”
Watch the video above for more of Levy’s feelings about the finale and his attempt to guess whether Corden’s team is wearing pants or PJs.