How Dan Levy’s Very Real Grief Inspired His New Movie: ‘I Worried I Was Not Grieving Properly’ (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

“Folks would even scream from passing cars, out their windows at me, ‘Ew!’” Levy says with a laugh during a recent interview at a hotel in West Hollywood. He understands he might be mistaken for hisSchitt’scharacter David Rose for years to come. “If you create something that lives with people to the point where they forget who you are, I will never take offense to that.”

Jessica Chou

In his latest project, Levy moves into a new realm. WithGood Grief,now on Netflix, Levy goes beyondSchitt’s Creeks’ theatre of the absurd and deep into the shadows of the bereft.

“As someone who’s single a lot, your friends are the loves of your life.” Levy says. “The friends I have are lifers. I love them dearly, to the point where I wrote a movie about that love and how it can save us in the hardest of times.”

Dan Levy.Jessica Chou

Dealing with his own grief after the 2020 death of his grandmother, Patricia Divine, was a steep learning curve that Levy drew upon when writing the script.

“Grief is not really a language that we use often," he says. “You’re lucky if you don’t understand grief. I was asking a lot of questions: whether I was doing it properly or if I was feeling enough or if I was honoring the loss, the people,” he recalls. “And then my dog passed away.”

(The film is dedicated to Pat and Redmond, his grandmother and dog.)

“Grief is an overwhelming feeling for the human brain. It can almost short circuit the whole board.”

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‘Good Grief’ stars Jamael Westman as Terrance, Himesh Patel as Thomas, Ruth Negga as Sophie and Dan Levy.Netflix

Netflix

The double loss dovetailed with his40th birthday.

He pauses. “Time time goes on. Or doesn’t, according to Mariah Carey. And she’s one of the great philosophers of our time.”

Good Griefis now streaming on Netflix.

source: people.com