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Playing spoiled socialite Alexis Rose in the 2015-20 comedy “Schitt’s Creek” was a career-making role for Annie Murphy, resulting in a
2020 Emmy for best supporting actress in a comedy series. But it wasn’t something she was looking to repeat – or even come close to.
So when along came the role of agreeable sitcom wife/unfulfilled blue collar woman Allison McRoberts in the innovative comedy/drama hybrid “Kevin Can F... Himself,” which airs Mondays on AMC and streams on AMC+, she embraced the departure. And she found going from multi-camera sitcom to single-camera drama and back again to be easier than she anticipated.
“On multi-cam days I’m like I don’t really have to prepare because I only have three lines,” the 34-year-old Canadian actress explains. “You know, because it’s so focused on the dudes who do such an incredible job. Eric (Petersen, who plays Kevin), in particular, is just so, so strong with the physical comedy. And so, he’s just run ragged during his days of work. But, yeah, Mary Hollis (Inboden, who plays neighbor Patty) and I kind of like, you know, sink into the background in multi-cam. And then when we’re in single-cam, it’s kind of our own world.”
And Allison’s world is a not happy one. When she’s not living in Kevin’s world as his personal straight woman in the comedy, she’s wallowing in an unhappy situation in the drama. For Murphy, that’s a serious message that both men and woman can take away.
“It just felt like a show that’s going to entertain but it’s also going to really make people think,” she says.
Full name: Anne Frances Murphy
Birth date: Dec. 19, 1986
Birthplace: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Education: Has a degree in performance theater from Concordia University in Montreal; trained at the Canadian Film Centre Actors’ Conservatory
Family ties: The daughter of two teachers, Murphy has been married to singer/musician Menno Versteeg since 2011
TV credits include: “The Business,” “The Beautiful Life:
TBL,” “Blue Mountain State,” “Against the Wall,” “Rookie Blue,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Flashpoint,” “Schitt’s Creek,” “Russian Doll”
Movie credits: “The Story of Jen” (2008); “Lick” (2010); “A Windigo Tale” (2010)
Favorite book: “A Fine Balance” by Rohinton Mistry
Favorite vacation spot: Her parents’ cottage on a secluded lake (location indisclosed)
First concert: Backstreet Boys