Daniel Levy on Netflix's 'Good Grief,' his bad habits and the 'Barbie' role that got away

To navigate “Good Grief,” Daniel Levy had to work through his bad habits.

The Emmy-winning actor and filmmaker inhabited the eccentric David Rose to snarky, meme-able perfection over six seasons of “Schitt’s Creek,” but part of why he wrote, directed and stars in the Netflix dramedy “Good Grief” (streaming now) was to create a completely opposite persona.

“When you play a character for 80 episodes of TV, those gimmicks, the ways that you know how to squeeze a laugh out of a situation, it's very different,” Levy says.

The “stillness” he needed for his new film “required a very concerted effort to rein in my happy place, which is just to be very elastic. My eyebrows move independently, my face is very reactive. To play someone who is very introverted and avoidant, it was an amazing challenge.”

In “Good Grief,” artist Marc (Levy) has his content life in London rocked with the death of his successful author husband Oliver (Luke Evans). But it’s the aftershock that really upends Marc’s existence when he learns Oliver led a secret life in Paris: Marc ventures to France with his best friends (Ruth Negga and Himesh Patel) to unearth the hard truths and find closure.

“It is inherently a bit of a tragic story, but there's comfort at the end of it,” says Levy, who’s plotting a return to TV in the new year. He chats with USA TODAY about “Good Grief,” getting filmmaking advice from his father Eugene Levy and the “Barbie” role that got away.

Q: You directed some episodes of “Schitt's Creek.” Did that plant a seed for wanting to do your own feature film?

Daniel Levy: What it did was plant a feeling of capability in a way. But it was the screenplay more than anything else. Writing the movie, having such a clear aesthetic vision, that's what really made me think, well, I don't think anyone else could do this in the same way. Or if they could, I would be buzzing around them in an annoying way and I don't want to be that person.

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Your dad directed a few things back in the 1980s and ‘90s. Did he offer up any pro tips?

He didn't. It's a habit I've had since I was very young, I don't often ask my dad for help. I guess it's like cultural perspective (and) the conversation of opportunity, even though I believe I've rightfully earned my place to tell stories and to live kind of autonomously, despite what people might say. There's a pride in showing your family something and hoping that they like it (rather) than asking for help along the way. 

I read that you were in the running for a role in “Barbie.” How close did that come to happening?

Well, it was going to happen, and we couldn't figure out the schedule. I'm so thrilled for everyone involved in that gorgeous, funny, brilliant billion-dollar film. It took me a minute to see it, I'm not going to lie. But apparently I'm in very good company when it comes to other people who almost were going be in the movie.

What Ken would you have played?

I was up for Allan. Love Michael Cera, so very happy for him. It was just also a wonderful audition process, too, because I didn't know anything about the movie and I got (a little bit of) the script and had to figure out what exactly was going on. You've seen the movie: Just getting two pages of that script, you look at it and think, “Yeah, I don't know how to play this, but I guess I'll make a choice and just go with that.”

In the past couple years, you’ve had small roles in “Haunted Mansion,” "The Idol" and “Sex Education.” Have you missed having your own TV show?

It's a blessing and a curse to be able to make something that people love so much. And for me, it's just about figuring out what the next step is. I'm in a place where I can be selective (and) take the time to think about, OK, what's the next story? I really value the audience and the fact that the "Schitt's Creek" fans are just like hungry for more. I just want to make sure that what I bring them next is going to be exciting and not something rushed. So taking the time to really figure it out is crucial but I'm excited to get back to it.