‘The Studio’ Cast & Crew Pay Tribute To Catherine O’Hara: “A Hero To All Of Us”
In The Studio, Catherine O’Hara played former studio chief Patty Leigh, a hardened Hollywood vet who is the mentor of Seth Rogen’s Matt Remick.
It’s a role that landed her an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series last year.
The cast and crew of the comedy have paid tribute to O’Hara following her surprise death.
“We are at a loss for words at the passing of our friend Catherine O’Hara. She was a hero to all of us, and we pinched ourselves every day that we got to work with her on The Studio. She was somehow classy, warm, and hilarious all at the same time. We’re unbelievably saddened she is gone and send our deepest sympathy to Bo and all her family.”
Production on the second season of the show started earlier this month, but it’s not clear whether O’Hara was part of that. The first season finale suggested that Patty Leigh would remain a fixture in the world of Continental Studios.
Seth Rogen said, “Really don’t know what to say… I told O’Hara when I first met her I thought she was the funniest person I’d ever had the pleasure of watching on screen. Home Alone was the movie that made me want to make movies. Getting to work with her was a true honour [stet]. She was hysterical, kind, intuitive, generous… she made me want to make our show good enough to be worthy of her presence in it. This is just devastating. We’re all lucky we got to live in a world with her in it.”
Ike Barinholtz, who plays studio executive Sal Saperstein, added, “I never in a million years thought I would get to work with Catherine O’Hara let alone become friends with her. So profoundly sad she’s somewhere else now. So incredibly grateful I got to spend the time I did with her. Thank you, Catherine. I love you.”
O’Hara’s Leigh has some of the stand-out moments in the show, right from the off when she is negotiating an exclusive overall deal with Rogen’s Remnick hours after being fired.
“The job is a meat grinder. It makes you stressed and panicked and miserable. One week you’re looking your idol in the eye and breaking his heart, and the next week you’re writing a blank check for some entitled nepo baby in a beanie. But when it all comes together, and you make a good movie, it’s good forever,” her character says.
She also tries to placate Remnick after it emerges he has to kill a movie by Martin Scorsese. “Oh, you poor thing. You have to kill Martin Scorsese’s movie. I killed one of Warren’s movies in ’88 and he never slept with me again,” Leigh says.
The Studio was created by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg Frida Perez, Peter Huyck and Alex Gregory. It is produced by Lionsgate Television and Point Grey Pictures.
