Rules to Live By
Inspired by our popular etiquette guide: New rules for behaving in polite society.
When fans ask Catherine O’Hara to do her best Moira Rose, she needs a moment before delivering a solid “bébé.” “I actually watched an episode of the show this week, which I haven’t done in years,” the Canadian actress says about Schitt’s Creek, the cult-favorite series she starred on for six seasons. “I thought, Wow, I don’t know if I know how to do that right now.” That’s probably because she’s been fully immersed in another boisterous character: Patty Leigh, the recently ousted head of a Hollywood film studio in Apple TV+’s satirical comedy The Studio, which premiered on March 26.
When Patty tearfully shrieks “You stole my job!” at the new head of Continental Studios, Matt Remick (played by series co-creator Seth Rogen), she is reinstated at the studio as a consulting executive. O’Hara describes the show as “frighteningly accurate” to the egos and idiosyncrasies of Hollywood filmmaking. “Everyone in show business says they know people just like this. They don’t see themselves, necessarily …,” she says coyly. Patty’s years of experience act as a more grounded foil to Matt’s wide-eyed cinephilic ambitions, which get whittled down while he closes deals on commercial hits: an auteur-driven, live-action Kool-Aid movie or exploring the Jenga cinematic universe.
For the Cut’s “Rules to Live By” series, O’Hara teases her role in the upcoming second season of The Last of Us, reminisces on working with the cast of Schitt’s Creek, and shares her best tip for running into the rich and famous.
This is the first multi-episode role you’ve taken on since Moira — what was it about this project that made you think, Yes, this is the one?
I don’t know what I was thinking. I had this Zoom with Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and they were so enthusiastic and knowledgeable about what they wanted to do. Whatever they told me about the character at the time sounded like fun and different to play for me. Once you say, “yeah, yeah,” it starts rolling, you’re part of it, and then you’re like: Wait, what have I done? But if I wasn’t part of this, I’d be jealous.
Schitt’s Creek was such a special project. Looking back, what is most memorable about working on the series?
Oh, everything about it. I loved working with Eugene and Daniel. They’re fine gentlemen. I loved doing all the family scenes. Getting used to being in that motel was kind of crazy, to actually be sad to say good-bye to it by the end. It’s just ridiculously fortunate — and this is terrible because it’s all about COVID, which is not fortunate at all, God bless us — that we ended the show on our own terms the year before lockdown. Just like the characters in the show, adult children were living under one roof with their parents, and suddenly millions of people were experiencing that exact thing. It was the right kind of funny comfort that people needed.
Is there anything you can tease about this upcoming season of The Last of Us?
If you know the second game, then you know it’s going to be pretty shocking. But it’s beyond that, like hard to read the script. Shocking, amazing, and powerful. My character is new, and I’m just in three episodes. But I did get to work with Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. They’re both wonderful, really loose and cool and fun to spend the day with.
We can’t wait. Now for our “Rules to Live By”: What are your rules for a successful dinner party?
Great food. But I think you can get away without great food if you have a great mix of people. I mainly have dinner parties with a bunch of friends who I know love one another already. There’s an art to being a host, where you invite people from different walks of life and you seat them. I never seat people. I’m making dinner! It’s enough that I’m cooking; please, you decide. Oh, and don’t forget to look in the mirror once in a while when you’re cooking. I sit at the table and I’m having a lovely conversation with friends, and then I go to the bathroom at some point and look up in the mirror. This is what I’ve looked like all evening.
What’s the last app you downloaded on your phone?
I was trying to do a new Adobe thing to get some form. I never quite got it, so then I got rid of it.
What’s your No. 1 tip for raising a child?
That’s killer. How can you even ask that? Hmm … pray for them? I can’t imagine growing up now.
What’s your No. 1 fashion rule?
Work with a great stylist.
What’s your No. 1 rule for sending a gift?
Try to do it on time, and if you don’t, just be very apologetic and hope that the gift makes up for the wait.
Would you send an Edible Arrangement?
I don’t mind getting them, but I’ve never sent them. It kind of puts pressure on me! I hate to be wasteful. I was brought up in a family of seven kids, and my parents were frugal. They always made ends meet and gave us wonderful lives, but we were taught not to be wasteful. So when I get that much stuff at once, if I’m thinking, I quickly share it with friends. Take this home, please.
What’s your No. 1 rule for advice giving?
Not unless requested?
Do actors ask you for advice?
Not so much. When you’re starting out, you’re young and cocky and you feel like you have something to teach the world, and that’s great.
What’s your No. 1 rule for canceling plans?
Weasel out of it. [Laughs] Just don’t answer the phone. Oh, that’s terrible. I remember hearing on the radio that the best thing is just to say, I’m sorry, I can’t do that for you. You naturally feel like, Oh, I have to convince them there’s some other really important reason that I can’t do it, even though I really just don’t want to do it. But you don’t have to say, “I don’t want to do it.” Just say, “I’m really sorry I can’t do that for you” or “I’m sorry I can’t make that happen for you.”
Do you think it’s okay to ghost after one date?
Oh, yeah. I did in the old days. There was no ghosting at that time. There was just not answering the phone. I just thought if after one date I’m not going to marry this person eventually, then this is not going to work out. You have to go with your gut. I’m sure I blew it many times, but I think I married the right guy. Dating is killer.
What’s your No. 1 rule for meeting other famous people?
Go to the Vanity Fair Oscar-viewing dinner party and stay around for when everyone comes after the show. It’s crazy. You’ll meet everyone you’ve ever wanted to meet. All these faces coming at ya. And if you love somebody, tell them quickly, don’t hang around. I just kept yelling at people at the party: “I just love you!” I saw Nancy Pelosi. I love you! I miss you! She was like, I’m still here.
Do you think holding a seat for someone is fair?
One seat. When people put, you know, a wallet on that one, a purse on that … if you’re saving, like, four or five seats, that’s not quite fair, but I’ve always been grateful when somebody saved a seat for me.
What rules do you have for your phone?
It’s different every day, but I’m shocked when I get that report on your phone that tells you how much use you made of the phone in the last week. That just makes me want to lie down. It’s really sad, man. I would generally try to put it somewhere else at the dinner table. I love to have face-to-face conversations with people.
What’s your No. 1 rule while walking on the street in New York City?
Get on the sidewalk. You said street! When I first went to New York from Toronto, I’d wait for the green light to cross, and I’d be the only one waiting. Then I realized, oh, everybody’s going across on a red light. I gotta try it.
What do you sign your emails with?
More often than not, “Thank you.” Or “Love.”
What’s your No. 1 rule for posting on social media?
Don’t.
You don’t have any secret accounts out there?
I have an account, but I don’t post. When we were doing Schitt’s Creek, Eugene said, You gotta sign up just so you can see what people are saying. So I did, and luckily, they were saying nice things.
Do you gossip?
Are you trying to get me to say [in Moira’s voice] “Gossip is the devil’s telephone”?
