Catherine O’Hara’s memory was honored on Sunday during the SAG Actor Awards nearly two months after her untimely death.
The beloved comedic actor, who died at age 71 in late January, received a heartfelt tribute from her “The Studio” co-star Seth Rogen as he took on the “very sad honor” of accepting her win for Outstanding Female Actor in a Comedy Series.
“I know she would have been honored to receive this award from her fellow performers, who I know she respected so much. She was such big fans of all of yours,” said an emotional Rogen.
The “Studio” actor went on to share how he’s been reflecting on the time he spent working with O’Hara before she died, remembering “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,” he noted.
Rogen even shared a heartwarming story about how O’Hara would send him and “The Studio” co-creator Evan Goldberg notes for their comedy series, saying, “I haven’t said this to the other actors because I didn’t want them to get ideas, but pretty much every evening before she had a shooting day on our show, she would email me and Evan an email that always was pretty similar.”
“It said, ‘Hello, I hope you’ll consider the following.’ And then there would be a completely rewritten version of the scene,” he joked. “And literally 100% of the time, it made not just her character better, but it made the scene better and the entire show better as a whole.”
Rogen used the rest of his speech to praise O’Hara’s knack for showing people “that you can be a genius and be kind, and one of those things does not have to come at the expense of the other in any way, shape or form.”
He then left the audience with a final word: “If you have people in your lives that don’t know her work — if they’re kids in your lives, or just people who are out of touch or stupid or something — just show them O’Hara dancing to Harry Belafonte in ‘Beetlejuice.’ Show them O’Hara hurting her knee in ‘Best in Show’ and doing that amazing thing, where she hobbles around, and tell the people, as they’re laughing, that that’s Captain O’Hara.”
He concluded, “We were lucky that we got to live in a world where she so generously shared her talents with us.”
Shortly before O’Hara died earlier this year, the “Studio” star received her seventh career nomination from SAG for playing the tough former studio chief Patty Leigh in her final screen role.
Beyond the Actor Awards, O’Hara’s “The Studio” role also earned her an Emmy nod last year for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy.
According to The Sun, sources claimed O’Hara was slated to appear in early scenes of “The Studio” Season 2 — which started filming in mid-January — before pulling out due to “personal matters.”
“She was scheduled to film, but they reworked the schedule to focus on scenes without her character,” the insider told the outlet. “I don’t believe she ever filmed anything for Season 2.”
It remains unclear whether the late star will appear in any capacity in the show’s upcoming season. Still, O’Hara’s absence has been felt by her castmates, who, along with the show’s crew, shared a touching message following her death.
“We are at a loss for words at the passing of our friend Catherine O’Hara,” the statement read, per The Hollywood Reporter. “She was a hero to all of us, and we pinched ourselves every day that we got to work with her on ‘The Studio.’”
“She was somehow classy, warm and hilarious all at the same time. We’re unbelievably saddened she is gone and send our deepest sympathy to Bo and all her family,” it continued, referencing her husband, Bo Welch.
THR also reported that Apple TV and Lionsgate Television, which produces “The Studio,” issued a joint statement following O’Hara’s passing, remembering her as “an undeniable legend, icon and incomparable talent.”
“Catherine elevated every project she was a part of, including the singular genius she brought to her role on ‘The Studio,’ and every transcendent performance she gifted to us,” it read. “Her artistic accomplishments will forever bring humor, light and love for generations to come, and her brilliance and generosity of spirit touched everyone around her.”