“Good Grief” might have been another title for “Schitt’s Creek,” the Emmy-winning comedy created by Daniel Levy and his father, Eugene. However, unlike “Schitt’s Creek,” which found humor in a family facing financial struggle, Levy’s latest project, a drama, delves into the impact of grief on a tight-knit friend group in their late 30s.
Currently streaming on Netflix, the film represents Levy’s directorial debut. He also wrote, starred in, and produced the film. Set in London, the story follows Levy’s character who travels to Paris with his best friends, played by Ruth Negga and Himesh Patel, after the recent deaths of his mother and husband, portrayed by Luke Evans. “Good Grief” is the first release in a deal he signed with Netflix.
During a video call last month, Levy, 40, explained that the film’s origin can be traced back to the death of his grandmother during the pandemic, causing a period of collective grieving that overwhelmed him.
“I hadn’t experienced a lot of loss in my life,” he said. “My biggest fear was that somehow I wasn’t doing it properly. That confusion forced me to start writing down my feelings, and I realized that there was an interesting story in the exploration of trying to figure out what grief means.”
Here are edited excerpts from our conversation.
How did you think to add another layer of grief to this character who’s already lost his mother?
Part of that is just trying to find a compelling throughline for the sake of telling an entertaining story. I knew, coming out of “Schitt’s Creek,” that I wanted to tell a story about friendship. As a person who’s been single for quite some time, your friends are the great loves of your life, so I knew going into this that I wanted the friendships to be front and center.
Was it different to write about friends rather than family?
I had to pull from a different source. A lot of these relationships are based on my own. I look back on my 30s as one of the great decades in my relationship to my friends. I think the older we get, the more complicated our friendships are.
Why did you decide to set the story abroad, in London?
I like the idea of someone who lives in a place they call home, but is not where they’re from. I knew that I wanted the character to be a fish out of water, and build a world around him which felt potentially isolating. When you live in a place that is not your home, the relationships you form are so important.
“I lived there for a chunk of time, in my early 20s. The experience was very character-building, and when you have those really formative moments somewhere, you will always have that desire to go back. It’s also a beautiful place to set a movie.
Why did you decide to make a drama?
I wanted to write something for myself and wanted to do something that was slightly more emotional. I think my desire as an actor led me, as a writer, down a path of exploring something more dramatic. We did 80 episodes of a comedy and, as an actor, you want to try something new. I don’t love that actors get pigeonholed when they have success in one particular area.
When did you cast yourself as director?
As soon as I wrote the script. I had such a specific vision for it by the time I wrote the last page, so directing it felt like a practical choice. I’d also directed several episodes of my TV show and felt like I was ready.