This week:
- I saw Melania, so you don’t have to.
- Devastated over Catherine O’Hara.
- Blown away by Amanda Seyfried.
- The best viral video ever.
- The worst tweet ever.
This One Hurts
When you’re a boy named Kevin who grew up in the ’90s, Catherine O’Hara is a big part of your life.
Was it fun every time someone asked my name, and then, standing inches away, screamed, “KEVIN!” in my face? I wouldn’t say that. But it became impossible not to cherish the fact that O’Hara has become such an indelible part of my life that, still today, I see her face anytime someone says my name.
An anvil came down on my heart when I got the news alert that O’Hara died. She’s the kind of singular actress whose masterclasses of humor and warmth don’t just matter as art or entertainment, but matter personally—to you, to me, to everyone who watches them—so that they actually become a part of you. Part of your cherished memories. Part of your personality. Part of what you hold deeply because you will miss her talent so much.
I interviewed O’Hara once, after the finale of Schitt’s Creek at the height of the pandemic in spring 2020. We cried together a few times—if you remember that era, you’d understand—and she was rather motherly of this Kevin, spending considerable time checking in on how I was handling everything—and, more importantly, myself.
We discussed the finale and how much the cast wept while filming it, and relived the famous café scene, where Daniel Levy’s boyfriend sings him a love song, and O’Hara was so overcome with tears watching the scene that they had to shoot around her.
“I watched it as Moira,” she said. “I’d look at David, my son, who, what little I know about his life from before when money separated us, is that he had a rough time in romance, if there even was romance in his life. I could cry now.” Through the phone, I heard a slight yelp. “I am crying. S--t.” She took a heavy breath and let a long silence linger. “To watch him have somebody love him so openly like that was just... I could cry every time.”
O’Hara told me about doing passes of Foyle’s Philavery: A Treasury of Unusual Words and Mrs. Byrne’s Dictionary of Unusual, Obscure, and Preposterous in order to pepper Moira Rose’s dialogue with more whimsical vocabulary. She talked about how she felt she needed to pinch herself because of the show’s reception: “I keep saying, people are giving us so much love it’s hard not to take it personally.”
And she told me what meant most to her about the show. “There’s a lot of negativity about a lot of things around the world, it’s good to just see people being kind to each other,” she said. My god, am I thinking about that now today.
I Have Watched This So Many Times
It’s time for another edition of “This Kelly Clarkson Show Clip May Have Changed My Life.”
OK, maybe not changed. But it has certainly brought me more joy.
Guest Amanda Seyfried began by raving about Clarkson’s ballad “Beautiful Disaster” (taste!), and then the pair launched into a duet that kind of took my breath away. It’s incredible. Seyfried has never sounded better. Clarkson’s harmonies….chills, always.
Between this clip and Seyfried singing Joni Mitchell while playing the dulcimer on Jimmy Fallon’s show—are we making a big enough deal over how talented she is?
This Never Gets Old
With so much of the country blanketed in snow that shows no signs of going away any time soon (my absolute least favorite time of the year), allow me to surface what I think may be the best viral video ever. Every winter when it pops up, my heart warms with the intense glow of schadenfreude taking place, and I’m able to survive the season again.
Opens in new windowThough We Are Apparently Very Old
I would like the person who posted this to be charged with a hate crime.
discussed the finale and how much the cast wept while filming it, and relived the famous café scene, where Daniel Levy’s boyfriend sings him a love song, and O’Hara was so overcome
More From The Daily Beast’s Obsessed
Why wine moms have gone gaga over the gay hockey show Heated Rivalry. Read more.
My rundown of the funniest movies I saw at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Read more.
I got to interview one of my absolute favorites, Shrinking star Michael Urie, for a new episode of the podcast. Read more.
What to watch this week:
Bridgerton: The show has become the ultimate comfort watch—but needs more butts! (Now on Netflix)
Send Help: In this house, we support Rachel McAdams! (Now in theaters)
The Muppet Show: I haven’t seen it yet, but as if I wouldn’t be tuning in. (Wed. on ABC)
What to skip this week:
The Moment: Charli XCX’s mockumentary starts strong, but goes off the rails. (Now in theaters)
Melania: Be Best and don’t waste the money. (Now in theaters)
