Eugene Levy Talks Hilarious New Travel Show and How He Did His 'Damndest' Not To Take the Job

'I'm not a funny person in real-life,' Eugene Levy says in this week's cover story.

America has adopted Eugene Levy as one its favorite dads, first from his numerous appearances in the American Pie movie franchise, and then from his more recent turn as the somewhat hapless patriarch Johnny Rose, a former magnate whose loss of the family fortune has landed them in Schitt’s Creek.

What makes that such a kick in the pants is that not only is the Emmy Award-winning actor Canadian through and through, but he initially turned down American Pie because he didn’t care for the way the dad was portrayed.

“I said ‘No, no, no, I think the dad should be a square dad that your kids don’t really want to hang around. You don’t want to be your son’s friend; you want to be his dad.”’

Happily, for the 76-year-old actor with the trademark bushy eyebrows, his son Dan and daughter Sarah didn’t agree with the “don’t hang around with dad” sentiment. It was Dan who had the idea for Schitt’s Creek and approached his father to work with him, while Sarah was happy to act in it. The show became not just a hit, but a streaming sensation (helped by audiences discovering the wacky and wonderful comedy on Netflix during the pandemic lockdown), sweeping the major Emmy categories in its final season.

“The most joyous six years that I’ve had in my life, let alone in my career, was getting to work with my kids,” Levy says.

But these days Levy is going solo, doing his version of Carmen Sandiego as he takes us globe-trotting in the eight-episode series The Reluctant Traveler (Feb. 24 on Apple TV+). He jaunts from the cold climes of Finland to the steaming jungle of Costa Rica, then has a brush with historical luxury at The Gritti Palace in Venice, with stops in Japan and South Africa along the way.

There seems to be a theme here, because in speaking with him, it’s clear that Levy didn’t take a page from screenwriter Shonda Rhimes’ Year of Yes, because he again said no when he was initially approached to host the show. A man who admittedly enjoys the creature comforts, Levy doesn’t like it when it’s too hot or too cold, he doesn’t like airports and he doesn’t enjoy sightseeing, so the idea of jetting around the world wasn’t on his bucket list.

“I have all the attributes of what it takes to not be a good traveler,” he says. “I’m not curious by nature and I don’t have a sense of adventure. So, I knew I was the wrong person. I said, ‘No, thank you.’”

But it was Levy’s very unwillingness to host the show that provided the producers with just the twist they were looking for: They would make a show about someone who doesn’t like to travel, hence The Reluctant Traveler was born.

That was something Levy could say “yes” to, and he does it with his unique sense of humor—a dry wit—because Levy, who is known for his comedy portrayals, doesn’t crack jokes. And while he admits to having enjoyed some of the unique aspects of his travels for the show—like dogsledding across a frozen lake in Finland—he also says he isn’t going to be packing his bags again any time soon.

“The most memorable aspect of traveling on this show for me has been the people I’ve been meeting,” says Levy. “That is also a good thing for me because I don’t engage readily with people I don’t really know in real life. I was quite proud of myself that I was enjoying it as much as I was.”

Levy Zoomed with Parade from his Los Angeles office, which has a wall of framed photos of his family and friends, a Golden Globe, a SAG award, a GLAAD award and a couple of Canadian Screen awards, to talk more about the show, working with his family and his backdoor approach to becoming an actor.

How did they convince you to become The Reluctant Traveler? 

Luckily, they didn’t listen to me because I did my damnedest to not take the job. [On a phone call] I went through all the excuses as to why I’m not the person, a lovely offer, and I was trying to keep it light. I’m not big with confrontation anyway but when you have to say no, just try and keep it light. I was getting laughs on the other end of the phone, so I thought, This is terrific because I’m making my point and it’s not heavy, I’m keeping it light; great.

What I didn’t know was the Apple exec and producer David Brindley hooked up after the call and said, “That’s the show. It’s what we’re talking about but with somebody who doesn’t like to travel—that’s the personality of this show.”

After the third time I said no, I said, “OK, so that’s good, I don’t have to pretend that I’m somebody who really loves traveling and is a seasoned traveler. In other words, I don’t have to be a character. I can now be myself as somebody who really doesn’t enjoy a lot of aspects of it that much.” I said yes.

Was being forced out of your comfort zone a good thing? 

It was. I was quite comfortable not wanting to go to places I knew I probably wouldn’t enjoy. Because I know myself. A lot of it has to do with knowing I can get a good meal. I don’t eat sushi; I don’t have an exotic palate. And I’m really not crazy about sightseeing.

What it did for me was to be able to say to myself, Give it a shot, just go and try it, you can’t stay closed off for the rest of your life, because I was actually quite proud of the fact that I really don’t like to [go anywhere]. I’m more comfortable staying home. But that’s not a very attractive feature to say, “Leave me alone, I’m good, you go enjoy your hike through the Himalayas, that’s fantastic, send me a postcard. I’m glad I’m not there with you even though it sounds unbelievably exciting from your end.”

So, that’s what it’s done for me: I really loved getting a chance to do things I would never have done.

What’s your idea of the perfect vacation?

My idea of a great vacation is where you don’t have to think about anything and you can truly, truly relax, just get me some sun, get me a pool, get me a piña colada, maybe a game of golf and then where can I get a good meal. That’s it. I could do that from one day to the next day to the next day.

If somebody said, “Why don’t we go to Hawaii? We can do a little golfing and find some great restaurants.” Fantastic, I’m there. Is there one place in the world that I can look at and say, “Boy, I really want to go there?” I can’t honestly pinpoint where that is. There may be some cities in Europe that I haven’t been to where I can say I’ll give it a shot because I’m still more a city person than a country person. I don’t honestly enjoy the treks through the countryside. I’ve done it on the show, and truly enjoyed myself, but would I do it on my own? I’m probably closer to doing it now than I ever have been.

Related: All the Deets on Dan Levy's Dating Life

You’re not a stand-up comedian, but this has a lot of humor in it. 

If this was about making a funny travel show, they could have hired Larry David. It wasn’t the intention. I’ve been a character actor my whole life, and I’m quite comfortable being in character. The more the character is not like me, the more comfortable I am. The closer the character comes to being me, the more nerve-wracking it is. Schitt’s Creek was a prime example of a show where I had to play this character who was pretty close to who I was. Nevertheless, it was a character. The idea of just me being in front of a camera was kind of nerve-wracking.

I’ve never considered myself a funny person in real life. I’m not a stand-up. I don’t look at life the way stand-up comedians do, where you have to find the funny thing in everything that’s going on. That’s not me. It was a challenge for me because I had to work some things out on camera, being the first time I’ve ever done something like this. But I'm trying to be as honest as I can on the show and it comes out in a funny way, if that makes any sense.

Related: 30 Fun Facts About Schitt's Creek

When you visited a shaman in Costa Rica, you talked about how important family is to you. What was it like working with Dan and Sarah on Schitt’s Creek? And your wife (Deborah Divine) was behind the scenes on that as well. 

My wife Deb’s been in the wings on just about everything in my whole life. Just about every job. Deb is truly the funniest person in the family, bar none, and you can talk to anybody about that.

Daniel came to me and said he had an idea for a show, do I want to work on it with him? I jumped at it. It was a great experience getting to work with him, getting the show off the ground. And Sarah was the perfect Twyla. We knew that. So, cut to I’m now in front of a camera doing Schitt’s Creek with my kids on camera, watching them in a scene with Catherine O’Hara; it was mind-boggling to me. I’m in the scene but my head is thinking, Look at my kids working with Catherine; look at them holding their own on camera doing such a brilliant and great job. That was it. That stayed with me for a long time. I never got over the fact that it was amazing that I was working with my kids on camera.

Related: Everything You Need To Know About Eugene Levy's Wife, Deborah Divine

What was it like to find that level of success—Emmy awards and becoming a household name—at that point in your career? 

Well, it was pretty damn great, to be honest. We did work hard on the show and from the get-go, season one, watching the episodes come out with this amazing cast of actors…they were just so pinpoint perfect in every way. I knew we were onto something. By “onto something,” I meant that we might get a second season.

Then the show got on Netflix. In Canada, of course, the CBC was the network that actually picked us up. But when it got on Netflix, that’s when we started to feel some real recognition wherever we went. A lot of people were throwing the name Schitt’s Creek around, “I love Schitt’s Creek. Saw you on Schitt’s Creek last night.” Towards the end, I guess our last two seasons, I credit my son, Daniel, because he was the captain sailing the ship here. He did some amazing work. It was just a joyous, joyous experience.

You were raised in Hamilton [Canada], not Hollywood, by parents who aren’t in show business. Did you even think you’d ever get a job in entertainment? 

No, I never did. I always loved doing plays in school. I had a singing group, a folk group that sang at every school event. Performing was fun, I loved it. I got to McMaster University in my hometown, and started to get into drama, all these plays. I absolutely loved it. But at no time did it occur to me that this is what I should be doing for a living because nobody back then from Hamilton became an actor. It just wasn’t something you did. I knew I loved it, but it didn’t occur to me to say, This is what you’ve got to do.

Fortunately, when I was bombing out of school at McMaster because I was doing so many plays and things that I just loved—and not going to class because that bored me—I realized, I need a job, I can’t keep doing this. I called my friend, the late Ivan Reitman, one of the great directors and producers that hit the world of comedy in Hollywood. He was doing his first film in Toronto at the time, and I got a job as a production assistant. I didn’t come through on camera, I came through the backdoor as somebody working on a film crew.

It was Ivan that gave me my first chance to be an actor in his next project. That was the beginning of my acting experience, but it was never, This is something I have to do. That never came up in my life before it actually happened.

How did you and Deb meet? 

I met Deb when I was working at The Second City theater in Toronto. They had posted a job for hostess in the theater. She came in and I happened to be in the lobby on a rehearsal break. I was chitchatting with the manager. She came in and said, “I’m looking for Mr. Thompson.” It was the guy in charge of hiring. I said, “You’ll find him on the third floor.” She said, “Thank you very much,” and she goes up the stairs. I turned to the manager, Leonard, and I said, “Leonard, hire that girl.” She was hired. That was the beginning.

Why did you raise Dan and Sarah in Toronto? 

I would come down to Los Angeles for different film projects and then we’d go back to Toronto. We stayed in Los Angeles for maybe a couple of years in the early ‘80s. And then Deb got pregnant and we had to think, OK, where do we want to raise the kids? To me it was, Well, I don’t know. We can stay down here and raise the kids, but it would be a very show-bizzy community for them to grow up in. Is that a fair thing for the kids to grow up in an insular world like this? And we worried there’s not great public transportation in Los Angeles, as well. You have to drive your kids everywhere until they get their license. We didn’t have Uber back then. That’s really what it was.

We said, “We should go back to Toronto because it will give the kids a better chance to explore just about anything they want to do with their life.” It’s a regular city with great public transportation, a great subway system, kids can start getting around when they’re 10, 12, taking the subway. It would be better for them. We moved back to Toronto, and we raised the kids there.

You work a lot with the same people over and over again: Andrea Martin, Catherine O’Hara, Christopher Guest. Does that give you a confidence to try things that maybe you wouldn’t want to try working with people you don’t know?

That’s exactly it. There’s a comfort factor in working with people that you have worked with over the years that can only help the creative process.

I’ve done a lot of stuff with Catherine, no question. Schitt’s Creek was just so great working with her. I think that the years of working with her came through in the fact that we played a couple who had been married a long time. I think that under the surface that really helped that we didn’t have to say too much, and it all worked.

So, Catherine’s your TV wife and then you have Deb as your real wife. Do they get along? 

They’ve been friends for years and years. Yes, gee, going back to Second City. I started working with Catherine around the same time I started going out with Deb. We would get together every now and then at parties and whatever, so it’s been going on a long time.

You once said that playing dumb is funnier than playing smart. But is it any kind of dumb? Or does there have to be more to the character to make dumb funny? 

It can be any kind of dumb. There’s smart dumb and there’s dumb dumb. Either is more interesting than playing somebody who’s really smart. Or somebody who’s really successful. It’s a different kind of comedy. It’s more dramedy in a way. Playing the pencils that aren’t the sharpest in the drawer, I get a kick out of that. I do. I’m not sure what a psychiatrist would have to say about that. But whatever it is, play it smart. The one great lesson we learned in Second City was no matter what you do, play it at the top of your intelligence level. If you’re playing dumb, play it smart.

Your eyebrows are your trademark now, but at some point did someone ever say, “Oh my gosh, that’s overwhelming” or ask you to pluck them? 

Well, I’ve never actually heard the word “overwhelming” attributed to my eyebrows. No, nobody ever did. I remember when I took over the lead role of Jesus in Godspell in Toronto. I think I was the only Jew who was ever hired to play the role of Jesus, who was a Jew. They were all at the time kind of Ronald McDonald-ish in character. But in the first scene Jesus is on stage in a pair of shorts and socks. They asked me when I was hired if I would wax the hair off my body for the part. I said, “No, I’m not going to do that, I don’t know why I would do that.” They said, “Yeah, OK, well then would you wear this costume-y tank top?” and I said, “Sure.” Nobody asked me to take the eyebrows down. I’ve hired the best gardeners to look after them, but sometimes they miss a week or two.

Cutting yourself off from the world seems to be a theme for you. 

Well, the world gets kind of let in. I’m addicted to the news, which if you want to shut the world out don’t watch the news. Most of the time I find it upsetting, and so you find yourself stewing and little black clouds coming out of your ears and you’re driving yourself crazy with what’s going on most of the time. When COVID hit and most people found it very difficult to kind of stay in the house for all that time, I didn’t. I said, “Wow, OK, good, so we don’t have to do anything? Excellent.”

LEVY’S LOVES

Biggest Inspiration

I would watch all the comedians back then in the ‘50s. Ernie Kovacs, Sid Caesar, Jack Benny and Jackie Gleason. I’ve been told I have a relatively slow delivery and I can take some pauses. I would attribute that to Jack Benny and how he would surround himself with funny people on his show. He would get his laughs reacting to them. I just thought that was the funniest thing.

Day Off

I’m great at doing nothing. I do love playing golf. I wish I was better at it, but nevertheless I find it completely enjoyable. I love the fact that I can just play, that I’m healthy enough to get up and swing a club. That’s really what it’s all about.

Favorite Meal 

A cheeseburger and a good side of fries.

Last Good Thing Watched 

I just saw Triangle of Sadness, which is one of the Oscar nominees. I thought it was absolutely amazing. I’ve seen a lot of good films because I’ve got to vote. The Banshees of Inisherin, The Fabelmans I really, really, really loved.

Best Thing About Life Right Now 

The fact that I can wake up every morning. You get to a certain age, and you go, How am I doing? Can I walk around? Can I breathe? Can I eat? Good, excellent.

Most Annoying Thing? 

People who don’t use their turn signals when driving. That instantaneously makes me go mental.

Words to Live By 

Everything happens for a reason. You can roll with the punches if that’s what it is.

Next, How To Watch Schitt's Creek