Arts & Culture

Jennifer Robertson is an actress, writer, and comedian.

Photo courtesy Jennifer Robertson

Actress shares experience on “Schitt’s Creek”

By Jim Gordon and Leeta Liepins

Published 12:23 PST, Fri March 3, 2023

Last Updated: 3:45 PDT, Mon April 17, 2023

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The Our City Tonight team recently sat down with Canadian actress, writer, and comedian Jennifer Robertson.

Robertson is perhaps most widely known for her role as Jocelyn Schitt in the Emmy Award-winning TV series Schitt’s Creek. She has been nominated for two Screen Actors Guild Awards—winning one—as well as four Canadian Screen Awards.

Our City Tonight (OCT): I mentioned Schitt’s Creek, but you have so many other projects that you have excelled at including another top TV series, Ginny & Georgia, that just released the second season to excellent reviews and large audience numbers. Tell us a bit about this show and your character Ellen.

Jennifer Robertson (JR): Ellen is the light in the dark situations in the show. She pops in to bring a little levity to some rather heavy storylines, especially in Season 2. There’s a lot of heavy subject matter, and the show took that very seriously. They did not write those storylines flippantly, or lightly. They consulted with psychiatrists and really did the research. It’s rated as a (young adult) show but it has found a home all over the place.

OCT: The writers really do deal well with the topic of mental health, and the network also goes so far as to put a lot of warnings up on the screen prior to viewing in case the subject matter is too difficult for some viewers. It is well written, well-acted, and we are all looking forward to a third season.

JR: Everyone says they feel very positive so we will see. We made audiences wait so long between the first and the second season. It takes time as you must write the show, edit the show, and then Netflix has to translate the show into over 100 languages. The process of shooting it to getting it on the screen is long and everybody excitedly binge-watches it in 48 hours and then is looking for the next season.

OCT: Let’s talk about your famous Jocelyn character for a minute. You mentioned that in Season 1 of Schitt's Creek you had to tease your hair to get that iconic style and it really took a toll on your hair. That’s when costuming introduced the Jocelyn wig. What happened to that?

JR: They offered me the wig when I finished (the show) but I wasn’t sure what I would do with it. Then the cast of Schitt's Creek got asked to do something for Barack and Michelle Obama and we had to do it in character. We got asked to do this online song with Mariah Carey for (graduates) in the first year of the COVID pandemic. They (mailed) me the wig and now I have it, but the wig has to stay in a cupboard.

OCT: You were born in Canada, right?

JR: I was born in Calgary. Then I lived on Salt Spring Island, and moved to Burnaby when I was eight.

OCT: You come from a comedic family—your dad and stepmom were famous for the CBC show Double Exposure. Was it funny in your house all the time?

JR: Everybody asks that, but I have to say not particularly. My dad was a funny guy for sure, but I think once you get home, you don’t do the bits. My mother, conversely, is in my opinion one of the most serious women ever—so there was a balance, a very funny dad versus my mom. I think my mom has lightened up much more over the years, and enjoys a good joke now.

OCT: Speaking of jokes, I do have to bring up the question: how was the transition from sketch comedy to the subtle humour in the show Schitt's Creek?

JR: When we started working on the show and rehearsing, definitely the note was (that) you don’t have to make it bigger. They wanted the characters to find their own thing that would reflect their own unique style. There was no multi-(camera), so we were not supposed to dial it up like we would in a sketch, but instead make it as grounded as those characters could be.

OCT: What was it like to work with comedy legends Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara?

JR: It was remarkable. Every day, the whole cast was wonderful, but especially with them—everyone knows them, and they are incredibly professional. They always knew their lines. As actors you go through playing smaller roles, and sometimes the bigger actors on set don’t seem to care or don’t pay attention to details, but with these two, absolutely every detail was tended to. It was so great to watch and be in scenes with them. Catherine and I, I think in Season 3, got to spend more time together, and I loved every minute of it.

For the full video interview, visit richmondsentinel.ca/videos

Jim Gordon and Leeta Liepins are contributing writers to the Richmond Sentinel.