When Annie Murphy was cast as Alexis in Schitt's Creek her life quickly changed. She went from struggling to get roles and considering quitting, to being the star of one of the best sitcoms on television. She got to work alongside iconic actors and actresses like Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara, and ended up winning Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series from her performance in the “Schitt’s Creek” episode; "The Presidential Suite." But, since she’s finished her run on the show she quickly realized she was going to have to separate herself from her character in “Schitt’s Creek” in order to get jobs.
Murphy found that 180 from Alexis in her role as Allison McRoberts in Kevin Can F*** Himself. Murphy's character is an unfashionable housewife, who quickly realizes that the life she has built herself is nothing like what she imagined for herself. I watched through the first episode and was surprised at quite how different that character was from what we had all seen Murphy do previously in Schitt’s Creek.
Her character has a thick accent matched with an unattractive sense of style and a less than loving husband which was such a vast difference from Alexis it was almost hard to cope with. The character was well-performed, as Murphy is a fantastic actress, but didn’t seem entirely believable. Which I entirely attribute to having only seen her previously as Alexis, who is vastly different. This also wasn’t helped by Murphy’s similar appearance in both characters, I feel like it would have made a world of difference if her hair was darker, shorter, or both. Aside from that, her dialect was incredible, and her frustrated chemistry with her co-star Eric Petersen was everything we needed and more.
In various interviews, Murphy has mentioned the post Schitt’s Creek depression she faced, along with the fact that she had a mere three dollars in her bank account before that job, and could barely get people to give her the time of day. That is part of what makes Murphy so inspiring, going from being on the verge of giving up to having everything she dreamed of. Knowing all of this, it makes sense that Murphy wants to make the most of her newfound fame after “Schitt’s Creek.” and I have no doubt she will, and I’m excited to watch whatever she does next.
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