Eugene Levy joked winning the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series had made him "seriously question" his career.
The 73-year-old actor scooped the honour on Sunday (20.09.20) for his portrayal of Johnny Rose in ‘Schitt’s Creek’ and joked about the "irony" of winning a comedy accolade for the "straightest role" he’s ever played.
Accepting the honour, he said: "It’s kind of ironic the straightest role I’ve ever played lands me an Emmy for a comedy performance so now I have to seriously question what I’ve been doing for the last 50 years.
"I want to thank my darling wife, I wouldn’t be out here without you. I want to thank our amazing production team, terrific writers and exceptionally talented cast who I’ve loved working with for six years, including my dear friend – and Emmy winner – Catherine O’Hara."
Eugene was nominated alongside ‘Black-ish’ star Anthony Anderson, ‘Black Monday’s Don Cheadle, ‘The Good Place’ actor Ted Danson and ‘The Kominsky Method’s Michael Douglas, and took the time to praise his fellow nominees.
He said: "My multi Emmy-nominated partner Daniel Levy, who took a show we came up with and brilliantly guided it so thank you son, thank you Academy and to my fellow nominees, it was an honour to be in your company, thank you."
Earlier in the evening, Eugene’s co-star Catherine O’Hara – who plays his screen wife Moira – beat out competition from ‘Dead to Me’ stars Linda Cardellini and Christina Applegate, ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s Rachel Brosnahan, ‘Insecure’ actress Issa Rae, and ‘Black-ish’ star Tracee Ellis Ross to take the evening’s first award, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
The 66-year-old star said: "This is so cool. I will forever be grateful to Eugene and Daniel Levy for the opportunity to play a woman of a certain age — my age — who gets to fully be her ridiculous self."
And that wasn’t the end to the show’s success as Eugene’s son and co-creator of the show, Dan Levy, picked up the Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series award, as well as Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series alongside Andrew Cividino.
He paid tribute to his father when he accepted the writing honour.
He said: "Oh my goodness, writers don’t get awards. Thank you to my dad for giving me the reins to the show, even though I didn’t have any experience in a writers room, it feels like a wild choice and I’m very grateful for it, I wouldn’t be here it if it wasn’t for you."