Catherine O’Hara was posthumously honored at the Actor Awards on Sunday, winning in the best female actor in a comedy series category for her role on “The Studio.”
The AppleTV+ show, co-created by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, is a madcap satire of modern Hollywood. O’Hara starred as Patty Leigh, a former Hollywood studio chief, opposite Seth Rogen’s aspiring mogul Matt Remnick.
O’Hara, best known for her performances in the Christmas classic “Home Alone,” the mockumentary “Best in Show” and the cult-hit sitcom “Schitt’s Creek,” died in January from a blood clot in her lungs as a result of rectal cancer, according to her death certificate. She was 71.
An emotional Rogen accepted the award on her behalf, telling the audience of Hollywood stars, “I know she would have been honored to receive the award from fellow performers.”
“I obviously, you know, have been reflecting on the time I was fortunate enough to spend with her, working with her,” he said. “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.”
“She knew she could destroy and she wanted to destroy every day on set,” Rogen said.
He shared an anecdote about how O’Hara would often email him and Goldberg the night before they’d be shooting, telling the two showrunners, “Hello, I hope you’ll consider the following.”
“… and then there would be a completely rewritten version of scene she was in,” Rogen said. “It made scene better and the entire show better as a whole.”
Kathryn Hahn, who plays studio PR maven Maya Mason on “The Studio,” appeared to tear up as Rogen spoke. Hahn was also nominated in the category.
“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 said.
Moments later, “The Studio” won the the award for best ensemble in a comedy series.
The Actor Awards, formerly known as the Screen Actors Guild Awards, streamed live on Netflix. Kristen Bell hosted for a second year.
