Seth Rogen opens up about filming ‘The Studio’ after Catherine O’Hara’s death

Seth Rogen has opened up about the emotional moment when the cast and crew of The Studio returned to work just hours after learning that Catherine O’Hara had died.

The 44-year-old actor and co-creator of the Hollywood comedy revealed that the team was filming the second season when they received the news that O’Hara passed away at the age of 71 on January 30.

Speaking to The New York Times, Rogen said the cast and crew were devastated but decided that continuing to work together was the best way to cope.

“We heard she passed away one morning. It was the first week of shooting,” Rogen said.

“It was really, really sad. We were all together, the whole crew, and everyone loved her very much. We didn’t know what to do, and we just kept shooting.”

He added that being together and finding moments of laughter helped them through the difficult day.

“I think the idea of making each other laugh and being together felt preferable to anything else we could have done that day,” he said.

O’Hara starred in The Studio as former studio executive Patty Leigh, a mentor figure to Rogen’s character Matt Remick. 

The series explores the behind-the-scenes world of Hollywood and the challenges of running a movie studio.

Rogen admitted that he and the team had already been worried about O’Hara’s health while preparing for the second season. 

Although they hoped she would return, they were quietly preparing for the possibility that she might not be able to continue.

“We started to hear she was sick,” Rogen explained. “She really wanted to come back. Honestly, in the back of our heads we were like, ‘We hope she can, but we don’t know if she’ll be able to.’”

Rogen described O’Hara as someone the team wanted involved more than anyone else, praising her impact on comedy and her influence on their own careers.

He called her “like a god to us,” especially as fellow Canadians, and highlighted her memorable work in films including Home Alone, Beetlejuice, and Christopher Guest’s comedy films.

Rogen said working with O’Hara during the first season pushed the team to create something worthy of her talent and legacy.

“To us, she was as funny as a person could be,” he said. 

“Getting to work with her on the first season, it really pushed us to want to do right by her and to make the show live up to her standards.”