Seth Rogen has spoken about the “unbelievable challenge” of making the second season of The Studio without one of its stars, Catherine O’Hara.
Rogen co-created the acclaimed Apple TV satirical comedy series and O’Hara played Patty Leigh, the former head of a Hollywood studio who serves as a mentor to Rogen’s newly promoted studio boss Matt Remick.
In January, however, O’Hara passed away at the age of 71 due to a pulmonary embolism, with an underlying cause of rectal cancer.
The second season of the show had already been written with O’Hara to be in it, and now in – a new interview with The Times, Rogen has shared the difficulty that the cast and crew have encountered in returning to the project without her.
“It has been an unbelievable challenge,” he said. “Obviously emotionally, dealing with the loss, but also when it comes to the show itself. We wrote it for her to be there. We had it all set and the shock waves permeate throughout the entire new season. It’s been difficult. You worded it better than we could – she was the anchor and now the anchor is gone.”
“If anything, we’re acknowledging the idea that we are a little anchorless,” he continued. “But, honestly, that is a part of life and what we all experience. And so while we try to not dwell too much on heavy themes in this show, they will be there in this second season. We are not ignoring it.”
In picking up a Directors Guild Award for The Studio in February, Rogen used his speech to pay tribute to O’Hara. “The best part of her is she showed that you can be an utter genius and also the nicest person in the entire world,” he said. “Every day, we work very hard to make the show good enough to warrant her time and her presence. So ultimately we would like to thank the DGA for this, but we would mostly like to thank Catherine O’Hara.”
As well as The Studio, O’Hara was well known for starring in the Home Alone series, as well as Schitt’s Creek, The Last Of Us and in several of Christopher Guest’s classic comedy films.
Home Alone co-star Macaulay Culkin shared a moving tribute to her in the wake of her death, writing “Mama. I thought we had time.”
As for The Studio, Madonna was recently spotted on the set of season two, leading many to believe she will play a part in the show when it returns.
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