Dan Levy, 40, rose to fame on “Schitt’s Creek,” playing the snarky David Rose for six seasons. He and his dad, Eugene Levy, created the Emmy-winning sitcom, which follows a rich family’s comically bumpy adjustment to small-town life after losing their fortune. “I think a lot of people think I’m a comedian, but I never really identified as one,” Levy—who reportedly has a net worth of $14 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth—said.
His latest project allowed him to explore a different side of himself as an artist. “Good Grief,” a Netflix drama starring Levy that he also wrote and directed, follows Marc, an artist processing the loss of his writer husband (Luke Evans).
Levy, who lives in Los Angeles, was born and raised in Toronto. Before his acting and writing career, he was a host on MTV and MTV Canada. Here, he discusses his writing process, shopping sprees, and the only kind of exercise he likes.
Here are a few things Dan Levy revealed to WSJ. Magazine…
On what he told his acting coach on the set of “Good Grief”
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Levy was excited to play a more reserved character, though he had to unlearn many of the mannerisms he’d honed for “Schitt’s Creek.” On set, an acting coach monitored his face for shades of David.
“I have a pretty elastic face, and I was like, ‘If you get any David Rose, come to me and you shut that s—down,’” said Levy, who also wrote and directed the movie. “It was an amazing acting challenge to do something so different.”
On what time he wakes up on Mondays and the first thing he does
I know that there are people who get up at 5 a.m. and do a cold plunge. God bless those people. I get up around nine o’clock if I’m lucky.
On exercise
“I live in Los Angeles. I hate exercise. I’ll probably get up and go for a hike because that’s my favorite kind of exercise. A lot of really great ideas come from hiking, from clearing your mind and just doing an activity.”
On grooming his brows
“They’re turning gray now, which is a very sobering experience for me. I trim them. My dad and I have very different philosophies on brows. He likes his very unbridled, which works for him because he has a much larger head than I do. But when you have a small head and very large brows, you need to kind of trim them back.”
On his writing process
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“I give myself a window of time in the afternoon and then a window of time in the evening where I just say, “Do what you can.” I have an office in my house where I’ll sit down to write at my desk. Then 85% of the time I will move to my bed, which is not good for my posture and my spinal column, but it is great for my brain.”
On what his dream shopping spree would look like
“The dream day is Tokyo. It would just be, someone’s given me a credit card and said, “Run free.” In Japan, you can find gems. Special things that I couldn’t get back home: clothes, art, objects. There’s a store, H Beauty and Youth, that I really love and it doesn’t hurt that there’s a delicious pizza place downstairs. Hitting all the vintage stores and trying to find that great pair of 501s you just can’t find anywhere else.”
On what he does for self-care
“I spend a lot of time with friends. When you’re single and you’re 40 and you live alone, friends are such a great support system. And any chance I can get to have a nice massage is a great indulgence and worthwhile investment.”
On whether he’ll ever do another project with his father, Eugene Levy, after “Schitt’s Creek”
“I don’t know. It’s hard to top something that was so special and meaningful for us, and also something that we’re so proud of. When people know you as one thing, you have to work really hard to get around people’s idea of who you are. For both my dad and I, being so close on the show, it would be difficult to do something that would feel different enough. But if the project is right, and it feels like something that wouldn’t draw comparisons, absolutely.”
On his most prized possession
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“The little box that [contains] my dog[’s ashes]. A friend of mine did a very beautiful portrait that sits right in front of it on my dresser. This movie was made partially because of him—there’s a dedication to him at the end and my grandmother, more significantly.”
On where he displays his Emmy’s
“They’re very big, so there wasn’t a lot of space for them in my house. There’s a part of my house that’s like a little communal living area—this little room that only friends [see]—and there’s shelving on the inside of the room. I don’t like the idea of showing them off. That might be my Canadian-ness.”
On what he’s reading and watching lately
“I just finished the documentary [series] “The Super Models.” I loved it. It was just an indulgent, wonderful thing and also really insightful. Sadly, I’m not reading anything at the moment. I tried journaling”
On how his journaling is going
“Not well. I have a journal, and I put my initials on it. I was going to try to do morning pages. Now there’s a journal that has, like, two pages written in it.”
On the one piece of advice he’s received that’s guided him
“Growing up, my mom always reminded my sister and me to always be aware of your role in everything that you do, both good and bad. When you operate on film and TV sets, there are large groups of people and it’s important to always understand your place in that. “What did I do in this situation? How can I improve?” Just knowing your place at all times and not being blind to it.”
Photo: Brad Torchina via WSJ. Magazine.
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