At Sunday’s Actor Awards, Seth Rogen delivered a poignant and emotional tribute to his late The Studio co-star Catherine O’Hara, who died in January at age 71 from a blood clot in her lungs as a result of rectal cancer.
O’Hara, beloved for her roles in Home Alone, Best in Show, and Schitt’s Creek, was nominated posthumously for her performance in the Apple TV+ series, which Rogen co-created with Evan Goldberg. In the madcap Hollywood satire, she played Patty Leigh, a former studio chief, opposite Rogen’s aspiring mogul, Matt Remnick.
Accepting the award on her behalf, an emotional Rogen addressed the room full of peers: “I know she would have been honored to receive the award from fellow performers.”
Reflecting on their time together, Rogen marveled at O’Hara’s unique blend of talent and kindness. “Something I’ve just been marveling at these past few weeks was really her ability to be generous and kind and gracious while never, ever minimizing her own talents,” he said. “She knew she could destroy, and she wanted to destroy every day on set.”
He shared a behind-the-scenes anecdote, revealing that O’Hara would often email him and Goldberg the night before filming with a rewritten version of her scenes—always signed off with, “Hello, I hope you’ll consider the following.” The revisions, Rogen said, “made the scene better and the entire show better as a whole.”
Co-star Kathryn Hahn, who was also nominated in the category, appeared visibly moved, tearing up during Rogen’s speech. “She showed you could be a genius and could be kind and one of those things doesn’t have to come at the expense of the other,” Rogen concluded.
Moments later, The Studio won the award for best ensemble in a comedy series, adding to the emotional weight of the evening.
The Actor Awards—formerly the Screen Actors Guild Awards—streamed live on Netflix, hosted for a second year by Kristen Bell. But it was Rogen’s heartfelt remembrance of O’Hara that lingered long after the show ended.
