Catherine O’Hara passed away on January 30, 2026 (ET) at the age of 71, leaving a massive hole in the heart of the film industry. The actress, who was one of the most beloved stars, is known for her roles in the series, Schitt’s Creek and the 1990 holiday classic, Home Alone. She was last seen in The Studio, for which she has now won the best female actor in a comedy series award at the 2026 Actor Awards. The actress’s co-star, Seth Rogen, accepted the award on her behalf and left everyone moved with his kind words for the late star.
Seth Rogen accepts the best female actor award on Catherine O’Hara’s behalf
Catherine O’Hara won the award for Female Actor in a Comedy Series at the 2026 Actor Awards. The award was even more special as it was also a tribute to the actress, who passed away just months before the awards. The award was accepted by Catherine’s co-star, Seth Rogen, on behalf of the late Catherine O’Hara, who won for her work on The Studio. However, his speech for the actress left everyone deeply moved. He began by sharing how he was asked to “assume the very sad honour of accepting” the award on Catherine’s behalf. He further added:
“I know she would have been honoured to receive this award from her fellow performers, whom I know she respected so much; she was such a big fan of all of yours. I obviously have been reflecting on the time I was fortunate to spend with her, working with her, and something I’ve been marvelling at over the past few weeks was really her ability to be generous and kind and gracious while never ever minimising her own talents and her own ability to contribute to the work that we were doing. She knew she could destroy, and she wanted to destroy every day on set.”
Seth Rogen recalled Catherine O’Hara’s emails to him
In the same speech, Seth Rogen further added that Catherine would often rewrite scenes and make them better. He shared that he hadn’t said this to other actors because he didn’t want them to get any ideas. He recalled that Catherine would email him the evening before the shoot and stated:
“She would email me and Evan an email that was always pretty similar, and said, ‘Hello, I hope you’ll consider the following.’ And then there would be a completely rewritten version of the scene she was in. And literally one hundred per cent of the time, it made not just her character, but the scene and the entire show, better. She really showed 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.”
Seth Rogen concluded his speech by sharing a message for the listeners. He shared that if people are not familiar with Catherine’s work, they should just see the late actress dancing to Harry Belafonte in Beetlejuice. Seth was quoted as saying:
“If you have people in your lives who don’t know her work, if there are 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, doing that amazing thing where she hobbles around, and tell the people as they’re laughing that that’s Catherine O’Hara and we’re lucky we got to live in a world where she so genuinely shared her talents with us.”
More about Catherine O’Hara
Catherine O’Hara was born in Toronto in 1954 and has a great passion for the performing arts from a young age. It was in Toronto itself that she joined the legendary comedy theatre, Second City, alongside Eugene Levy, with whom she would collaborate throughout her career, including on the smash TV series, Schitt’s Creek. Her big break in the movies, however, came in 1980, with Eugene Levy and John Candy’s Double Negative.
What are your thoughts on Seth Rogen’s tribute to Catherine O’Hara?
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