Dan Levy brands late Schitt's Creek co-star Catherine O'Hara 'magic in a bottle' and says their work was 'the greatest creative partnership of my life' as he opens up on the impact of her death

Schitt's Creek co-creator Dan Levy has opened up on the impact of his co-star Catherine O'Hara's death in an emotional interview where he branded the actress 'magic in a bottle'. 

The actor, who also was co-executive producer on the hit series alongside father Eugene, worked alongside Catherine across six seasons of the CBC show. 

Despite Dan, 42, who starred as David Rose in the sitcom which ran from 2015 to 2020, and Eugene, 79, fashioning the scripts - it was readily admitted that Catherine would often rewrite entire scenes 'from top to tail' as part of her role on the show. 

Catherine, who played Moira Rose, passed away in January at the age of 71 on January 30 from a pulmonary embolism, almost a year after she begun treatment for cancer. 

Since, Dan paid tribute to O'Hara by revealing how she worked alongside him and his father on scripting for the series, which sees a bankrupt couple forced to moved into their only remaining asset in the town of Schitt's Creek. 

Praising her as 'magic', the writer told The Times: 'I knew her my whole life, she was like magic in a bottle. She had so much to say, she always did.'

Praising their work together on Schitt's Creek as the 'greatest creative partnership', Dan continued: 'She comes into a project knowing exactly who she is, how she wants to look, what she wants to say.

'She was so dynamic, all you needed to do was make sure the cameras were rolling and turn on the spotlight.'

Earlier this month, Dan broke down in tears while remembering his onscreen mother Catherine as he was asked about the possibility of a Schitt's Creek follow-up. 

Dan - who'd been pondering a sequel before her passing - was visiting the same Goodwood-area boutique that doubled as his character David's Rose Apothecary.

'It's tough. It's tough being back,' the actor told CBS News Sunday Morning.

'I didn't think that I'd have quite an emotional reaction. Just a lot of memories…  a lot of memories with Catherine. It's what you have to hold onto is the memories of it all.'

The four-time Emmy winner co-created and starred in Schitt's Creek opposite O'Hara's former soap opera actress Moira Rose in the critically-acclaimed sitcom, which aired for six seasons on Pop TV spanning 2015-2020.

The Canadian comedian - who'd been suffering from rectal cancer - made her final public appearance looking frail at the Angel Awards in Santa Monica on October 16.

O'Hara is survived by her husband - four-time Oscar-nominated art director Bo Welch - whom she met in 1987 on the set of Beetlejuice as well as their sons Matthew, 31, and Luke, 28.

The two-time Emmy winner's final roles were in Apple TV's The Studio and HBO's The Last of Us, but she's best remembered for her work in the sketch comedy series SCTV, the Home Alone films and Christopher Guest's mockumentaries.

Levy has created yet another TV show about a dysfunctional family called Big Mistakes, which premiered on Netflix earlier this month. 

In the eight-episode crime comedy, the Smurfs star portrays closeted pastor Nicky who's blackmailed into working for some very dangerous people alongside his sister (Taylor Ortega).

'I wouldn't let it in,' the Not a Real Production Company founder said of Schitt's Creek comparisons to the new series on the streaming giant. 

'I don't think you can. And you really have to lock the door on that and almost accept the fact that if that is the big crown jewel, fabulous. How wonderful. Everything else has to be something that makes me feel good.'

Big Mistakes will also star Laurie Metcalf, Jack Innanen, Boran Kuzum, Abby Quinn, Elizabeth Perkins and Josh Fadem.

Elsewhere, Dan revealed how he's coping in the months after the death of 'great queen' Catherine. 

Dan reflected on the painful loss on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon.

'Listen, it's like a collective loss, I think. She was the greatest. She's irreplaceable,' Levy told Jimmy, 51, during his sit-down interview.

Fallon responded she was 'one of the funniest comedians I've ever seen. Can do characters … Gorgeous.' Dan added, 'Unbelievably talented at improvising. One of the great, great, great, great queens.'

'The great comfort for me has just been to see how loved she was, you know what I mean? The outpouring. Everyone felt like they kind of knew her,' Levy continued.

Dan's real-life father Eugene Levy played her husband, Johnny Rose, and Annie Murphy played her daughter, Alexis Rose.

Eugene gave a statement after the actress' death.

He shared with Us Weekly: 'Words seem inadequate to express the loss I feel today. I had the honor of knowing and working with the great Catherine O'Hara for over fifty years.

'From our beginnings on the Second City stage, to SCTV, to the movies we did with Chris Guest, to our six glorious years on Schitt's Creek, I cherished our working relationship, but most of all our friendship.

'And I will miss her. My heart goes out to Bo, Matthew, Luke, and the entire O'Hara family.'