Dan Levy became famous for playing David in Schitt’s Creek, which he co-created with his father Eugene Levy. The series won major comedy awards at the 2020 Emmys, landing Levy a multi-year production deal with Netflix. Good Grief is Levy’s first project with the streaming giant, which he wrote, directed, and stars in. He plays Marc, a man who is grieving after his husband’s death in a car crash.
Levy tells KCRW that a central part of the film was creating a nuanced relationship between Marc and his husband Oliver, who is only in the film for a few minutes at the beginning. Much of Good Grief is set a year after Oliver’s death, when Marc discovers a Christmas card that hides a secret.
“It was important that their story be more complicated than what originally meets the eye and devolved into something very real, something that a lot of people have experienced themselves,” Levy explains. “I don't want to give too much away, but it certainly is. I wanted to tell a relationship that was rooted in love, but had some very serious conversations that needed to happen around it.”
The film is also about Marc, who is a successful writer, discovering his identity after a long marriage. “The character that I play in the movie is someone who's run away from a lot of his problems and into a much, much more comfortable situation for himself. … The movie really explores how long you can avoid coming to terms with the things in your life that really matter.”
While much of Good Grief’s story is fictional, Levy drew inspiration for Marc’s character from his personal experience with celebrity.
He points to Schitt’s Creek’s success during lockdown: “Our relationship to people and our exposure was so different, that I think we’re still grappling with the fact that people know who we are because it happened quite literally overnight. So my relationship to outward success — I'm still in the process of trying to understand what it all means and what it is because it happened in a time that didn't allow for the slow-burn effect of getting to see people recognizing you and getting to hear people responding to the show.”
In retrospect, Levy says he was surprised at how much fans embraced the seemingly superficial Rose family in Schitt’s Creek, including his character David.
“Fans of the show — got it. They got the fact that he wasn't as shallow as he seemed. They got the fact that all of these characters had so much more to offer. … I feel like people felt very comforted by the family and very warmed by them. So it almost feels like people took something even deeper away from the show than I had thought.”
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Levy says writing Good Grief was a professional challenge, since his new character was such a departure from David in Schitt’s Creek. “It forced me to really work through some habits that had formed over 80 episodes of playing such a reactive and such an elastic person. Marc is so still and so reserved and internal and really, really avoidant, in a way that is far more intellectual than what David was. David wore his heart on his sleeve, his whole face. If he didn't like something, he could show it, whether he was perceived as being rude or not.”
The movie also centers on the idea of found family, which Levy says is important to him as someone without kids or a partner. “My friendships are the loves of my life. And as I went through my 30s, I came to realize that friendships only deepen in the conversations you have. The obstacles that you overcome with your friends really change in very profound ways. And the closeness that you feel with your close friends as you age is such a loving and deeply emotional thing. And yet, I haven't seen that reflected in a lot of movies.”
One of those friends in Good Grief is Sophie (Ruth Negga) — Levy describes her as the life of the party who’s running from something. “Ruth stepped into those shoes with such electricity, and was able to not only show the vibrancy of this character, but also when it mattered, reveal a really broken side to this character that was in need of healing.”
He adds, “She’s a bit of a mess. … She doesn't want to settle for anyone or anything, because I think that would actually force her to stand still. And it would force her to take a beat and look at herself. And those types of people are more comfortable spinning around and constantly keeping themselves distracted than stopping and looking at themselves and saying, ‘Who am I and what do I need?’”