The Stunning Transformation Of Annie Murphy
Actor Annie Murphy became a household name thanks to her portrayal of shallow rich girl-turned-small town darling Alexis Rose on the hit series "Schitt's Creek." However, if there's one detail Annie Murphy fans know about the TV star, it's that she is not even close to a little bit Alexis in real life.
While she's played socialites on "Schitt's Creek" and "Praise Petey," Murphy's a down-to-earth, chill person. As she told Parade in 2023, she doesn't necessarily worry about being an "it girl." "I would just like to be perceived as a cool dude," she said. "I just like to be perceived as someone who is, you know, trying to be as comfortable in her own skin as possible and as kind and good to the people around her as possible."
As of this writing, the "Black Mirror" actor has 30 credits to her name, and her filmography is only continuing to grow. Whether she likes it or not, she's a Hollywood "it girl" in the making. From her humble beginnings in Canada to the star-making role that brought oodles of award nominations and beyond, this is the stunning transformation of Annie Murphy.
Annie Murphy knew she wanted to be an actor early on
Annie Murphy was born on December 19, 1986, in Ottawa, Canada. Both of her parents were school teachers, and they introduced her to the wonderful world of books at an early age. Her love of reading and getting lost in a book set the stage for her love of acting. As she told Fashion Magazine in a January 2020 interview, the time she spent reading with her dad played an integral role in her incredible career.
"I remember being quite young and having this feeling of panic that you've only got one life," Murphy said. "I think books are the first step to kind of overcoming that, because you can be a different person and live different lives in different places and have different experiences all through books. And then acting is an extension of that — being able to be another person for a while."
Her high school theater teacher had a big impact on her
Before Annie Murphy was a household name, she attended high school at the private all-girls Elmwood School in her hometown. There, she studied theater and participated in many of the school's plays, including "Imagining the Brontës," "The Gut Girls," and "The Lark." In 2020, Murphy's high school theater teacher Angela Boychuk told Capital Current that she had known of her student's talent many years before she became a star. "I remember going up to her on the stage and hovering behind her and coaching, and in that moment, I had this strong feeling that she understood her role and her power as an actress," she said.
In July 2023, Murphy appeared on the "5 Questions with Dan Schawbel" podcast and spoke about how it was Boychuk who had inspired her most to become an actor. "She always helped put on the most incredible plays and she had such incredible passion for acting, and it was infectious. ... She really, really encouraged me to not become a lawyer and to pursue acting," the "Schitt's Creek" star shared.
She studied theater and film
After graduating from high school, Annie Murphy went on to enroll at Queen's University in Kingston, however, she soon after decided to swap over to Concordia University's Theatre Performance Program. During a September 2021 interview with the news division of her alma mater, Concordia University, Murphy explained why she attended the school and how it helped her in the long run.
"I wanted a degree and the National Theatre School doesn't give you that diploma. Concordia has a hands-on program with small classes. It broke me out of a lazy cycle of procrastination. I had to work hard — but we also had fun. Those were formative years. I was figuring myself out, surrounded by creative people. ... Concordia set me on my path," the "Russian Doll" actor explained. Murphy graduated from Concordia University, as well as the Canadian Film Centre Actors' Conservatory, and after moving to Toronto, she began working towards landing professional, on-screen roles for the first time.
Annie Murphy moved to LA to pursue her career at 22
Unfortunately, Annie Murphy's efforts in Canada did not yield the kind of results she wanted, as she'd only appeared in a couple of Canadian made-for-TV movies, including her debut in "Lethal Obsession," between 2007 and 2008. She decided to move to Los Angeles at 22 years old and really give her all to acting. Initially, her time in Hollywood wasn't a very glamorous experience.
In a 2020 chat with Variety, Murphy shared that she moved in with a roommate she'd met on Craigslist. The roommate, a fellow actor, prepared for a role as a soldier by sleeping in her closet. "I would be eating soup on the couch thinking I was alone, and then she'd burst out of the closet all wild-eyed. It was one of the saddest, loneliest times of my life," Murphy said.
It wasn't an ideal lodging situation, but it wasn't long before Murphy's career picked up steam. By 2009, she began booking small parts in shows like "Blue Mountain State" and movies, including "Lick" and "A Windigo Tale."
By 2010 she was desperate to break into comedy
Within the span of just a couple of years living in Los Angeles, Annie Murphy had gotten work as an actor, but only in dramatic roles. Yes, the very actor who would go on to win award after award for her work on a hit comedy series couldn't land a gig that let her show off her comedy chops. As she told Marie Claire, "I was begging, begging, begging, to go in for comedies, but because I didn't have any comedy on my resume, people were like, 'Mhm. But you're a drama girl.' They had their blinders on."
Her limited filmography primarily consisted of one-off appearances in dramas, including a couple of crime thrillers like "Rookie Blues" and "Flashpoint" all the way up to 2012. Little did she know, her luck would be turning around soon — but first, she would have to hit her lowest point yet and consider quitting acting altogether.
Annie Murphy married Menno Versteeg in 2011
Annie Murphy found love long before she introduced audiences to Alexis Rose. In 2011, the "Schitt's Creek" actor married Menno Versteeg, frontman of the band Hollerado and record label executive. The couple has yet to reveal how they met, but it's clear they're made for one another and share a love of performance.
From the start, Versteeg and Murphy have been supportive of each other's careers. "When you're married to someone who's in a band, it's a very specific type of relationship. For the first half of Hollerado's career, Annie was a struggling actress. ... So she would often come on tour with the band, and that would involve sometimes coming onstage to sing with us. We ended up writing songs together," he told Elle.
One such song just so happens to be "Schitt's Creek" fan-favorite "A Little Bit Alexis." They co-wrote the lyrics together and kept their fingers crossed that, as silly as the song was, it would be successful. As Murphy told Elle, "We knew it had to be funny, and we knew it had to be kind of spoofy, but we all secretly wanted it to be a f***ing banger of a song that people would actually put on to pre-drink to and, you know, dance to at the club."
She almost quit acting before her big break
Many successful actors struggled before they made it big. Melissa McCarthy almost quit acting before landing "Gilmore Girls." Jacob Elordi landed "Euphoria" right when he was ready to leave Hollywood. Annie Murphy had what was perhaps her worst year ever right before she secured her role on "Schitt's Creek."
On a January 2020 episode of "The Kelly Clarkson Show," Murphy reflected on this trying era of her life. "Just before 'Schitt's Creek,' things were quite bleak," she told Kelly Clarkson. "My house had just burnt down, I had like $3 in my bank account. ... I hadn't worked in close to two years, and I had just blown my very first screen test." Murphy said she remembers breaking down in tears at the beach because she felt that it was time to give up on her dream. However, just two days later, the actor had her first audition for the show that would make her famous, and it turned her entire life around.
Schitt's Creek made Annie Murphy a star
When Annie Murphy auditioned for "Schitt's Creek," her brown locks almost cost her the gig. As Murphy recalled in Variety, Dan Levy, who co-created the series and played David Rose, was certain she was their Alexis Rose straight away. However, series co-creator and star Eugene Levy wasn't so sure she was the right person to play the blonde socialite. Long story short, her audition won Eugene over.
In order to prepare for her role, Murphy studied several celebrities who inspired her portrayal of Alexis. As she told Variety, "I also went to YouTube, and I was like, 'Kardashians,' 'Paris Hilton,' 'Olsen twins,' 'Lindsay Lohan,' all that stuff. I stole a bunch of stuff from them, which I am so grateful for."
The series ended after six seasons, leaving the cast with a lot to reflect on. In an March 2020 interview with E! News, Murphy spoke about what filming the final episodes was like. "I think it's impossible not to go through such a big life change and not grow from it," she said. "I mean, I desperately, deeply, deeply hope that I have absorbed something through osmosis through Catherine O'Hara, whatever magic she possesses, and Eugene Levy. Being able to go to work with two human beings like them every day is [a] priceless experience."
She co-created a series called The Plateaus
Just months after "Schitt's Creek" premiered in 2015, "The Plateaus," a Canadian web show co-created by Annie Murphy, made its debut. She also starred in the ten-part comedy series, which followed an indie band as they try to continue their rise to success after their lead singer — the only talented member of the band — dies in an accident.
Murphy is no stranger to the music world and, during her January 2020 interview with Fashion Magazine, she explained how the show was partially inspired by her own experiences with her husband's bandmates. "That was kind of the scene I was living in at that point. My husband was in a band, so I was constantly surrounded by band dudes and band stories and that whole scene. It's all so easy to laugh at, especially when people are taking themselves too seriously, which is often the case," she said.
Annie Murphy traveled to Jordan as CARE Canada Ambassador
Although she's been recognized mostly for her quirky characters and stunning red carpet looks, Annie Murphy has also demonstrated her humanitarian nature as the CARE Canada Ambassador. The non-profit organization focuses on providing efforts to support the safety and well-being of women and girls across 30 countries, including Jordan where Murphy traveled in September 2019.
During a tour of a Syrian refugee camp, Murphy met with three young sisters. Reflecting on their conversation, the "Schitt's Creek" actor told CARE Canada, "These girls are kind, generous, fun, welcoming, and brimming full of hope for their futures, which they deserve to be the absolute brightest."
It was evident that Murphy's trip as the organization's ambassador had a huge impact on the actor, as she reflected on her time in Jordan during a January 2020 video with her mom. The actor spoke of one woman in particular who had been kicked out of her house with her four children by her husband. "I told her how much I appreciated hearing her story and ... she wanted to share [her] story, not only with Jordanian women but she wanted me to take it home to Canada to tell women. ... She thought she had hit her lowest point and couldn't go any further, and is now running her own business," Murphy said.
She won an Emmy in 2020
"Schitt's Creek" not only opened a lot of doors for Annie Murphy, but it brought in over 20 award nominations. The actor reflected on how much her life had changed because of the show in a 2020 interview with Marie Claire. "I don't expect this to happen again, you know? I think it's such an incredibly special show and they don't come along that often. I am just trying to suck up through osmosis all these crazy [experiences]," Murphy said.
However, it was at the 72nd Emmy Awards in September 2020 that the star realized just how far she'd come when she won outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series. She had beaten D'Arcy Carden, Kate McKinnon, Yvonne Orji, and many other incredible performers, and during her acceptance speech, Murphy enthused about how "wild" it was. "The six years that I have spent working on this show have been the best six years of my entire life," she said. "I'm so proud to be a part of a show that stands for love and kindness and inclusivity and acceptance, because those four things are things that we need more than ever right now."
Annie Murphy did a series of commercials
Some actors get their start in commercials and then move on to bigger roles, while others return to commercials after they've already become a household name. There's no question that Annie Murphy is worth more than you think, as she went on to appear in a series of advertisements after she'd already become a star.
In October 2020, Murphy starred in a soap opera-themed HelloFresh Canada campaign all about "taking the drama out of dinner." Then, she partnered with the non-hormonal birth control gel company Phexxi in 2021 and became the face of their ad campaigns. It was a product the actor believed in, as she had spent years using hormonal birth control and suffering from the side effects. "I felt out of sorts and I didn't feel right in my body. It took years for me to put two and two together and realize it was the hormones I was putting in my body every single day, even when I wasn't having sex," she told Verywell Health in August 2022.
2024 saw Murphy reappear on our television screens again, this time as Sparkling Ice's Chief Flavor Officer for the "Anything But Subtle" campaign. According to a statement the brand's Chief Executive Officer made to PR Newswire in January 2024, this was Talking Rain Beverage Company's biggest marketing investment yet.
She landed a role in Kevin Can F**k Himself
After Annie Murphy made a name for herself as Alexis Rose in "Schitt's Creek," she secured the lead role on AMC's "Kevin Can F**k Himself" in 2021. She portrayed Allison McRoberts, a sitcom wife who's trapped in an unhappy marriage. The dramedy was darker than many of her previous roles.
In a June 2021 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Murphy talked about why she was so excited about her role in "Kevin Can F**k Himself." "[It] was really important to me that I find a character that's worlds away from Alexis. As much as I love her, for my career, I needed to do that," she said. "So when this script fell into my lap, it was just like my heart leapt and my eyes shot [out] because this character is so far from Alexis."
Murphy also told Collider in July 2021 about how her role in the show was entirely different from anything she had done previously. "It was unlike anything that I had read, not only that particular pilot season, but ever. ... It's a bold, risky show and I really liked that about it. I liked that it was about a very flawed character. ... That was really appealing to me," she said.
Annie Murphy changed things up in 2023
With her "Schitt's Creek" character officially behind her, and the conclusion of "Kevin Can F**k Himself" in 2022, the following year saw Annie Murphy changing up her projects. She landed a supporting role in the Apple TV movie "Fingernails" and lent her voice to the animated series "Praise Petey" and the movie "Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken." In speaking with Collider in June 2023 about voice acting for the first time, Murphy remarked, "I sought no advice whatsoever, which was my first big mistake. ... In the first four hour chunk that we did, [I] blew my voice out entirely."
Murphy also signed on to appear in "Black Mirror," playing the titular character in the 1st episode of Season 6, titled "Joan is Awful," alongside Salma Hayek. She told Today in June 2023 that she had been a fan of the series beforehand, but she was blown away when she read the AI-themed plot of her episode. "They sent me the script and my jaw just kind of kept dropping and dropping and dropping. Then we got to the end and it basically unhinged from my skull and fell all the way on to the floor," Murphy said.