Macaulay Culkin Honors Catherine O’Hara in Gut-Wrenching In Memoriam

Macaulay Culkin never felt alone with Catherine O’Hara on his side.

During the Emmys 2026 on Sept. 14, the Home Alone shared a heartstring-tugging tribute to his late costar after her January death, taking the stage alongside her Schitt’s Creek costars Annie Murphy and Dan Levy to begin the in memoriam segment.

"We remember her as the forgetful mother," Culkin began. "But I will never forget about her. There are all kinds of words I could use to describe Catherine. She was encouraging. She was warm. She was funny. But the word that I think of is mama."

He explained that the actress wasn't just a wife to her husband Bo Welch and mother to their sons Matthew and Luke.

"She was my mom. She was our mama, and by extension, she's all of her mama," Culkin said. "By the way, call your mother tonight, for real. But like a good mama, she always showed up when I asked her to, because that was Catherine. That's what she did. She showed up, and this is the best that we can do for her tonight."

"We're showing up for her," he continued. "So, she may have forgotten me twice, but we will always remember her."

Levy and Murphy likewise remembered the impact O'Hara had on fans everywhere.

"Catherine's laugh was a perpetual 'yes and,'" Murphy shared. "It challenged anyone who heard it to join in and be as delighted as she was, and she spread that delight everywhere. After we lost Catherine, I was passed a note on an Air Canada flight that said, 'Ahe was so special. I hope you're doing okay.'"

The actress explained that moments that reminded her "how profoundly Catherine has impacted the world, and it's because she brought us joy."

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As for Levy, he shared how he embraced O'Hara's advice on Schitt's Creek.

"The greatest lesson I learned from Catherine, both professionally and personally, was to always say yes," he noted. "Say yes to her instincts, all of them, as radical as they may sometimes seem. She is miles ahead of you, and you will learn to catch up."

"Say yes to helping her build a TV character over the age of 60 that wears leather miniskirts and 8-inch heels and speaks in a strange, sometimes unintelligible transatlantic accent, and know that she will not scare an audience away," he added. "Say yes to giving her space to experiment and create. It will amaze you on a daily basis, and it will change your life. Say yes to her dinner invites and her stories and her wisdom and her generosity. Those are the things you will hold on to the tightest. 

When O’Hara died on Jan. 30 following a brief illness, Hollywood—and the television world specifically—lost a trailblazing and boundless star. At the time, Levy admitted he had been brainstorming a potential Schitt’s Creek reunion, which would’ve seen the 71-year-old reprise her Emmy-winning role of Moira Rose. 

When asked if he and his father Eugene Levy would ever consider reviving the show without O’Hara, the 43-year-old admitted in an April interview with CBS News Sunday Morning, “No.”

“You can’t,” he explained while filming the interview in Ontario, Canada, where the CBC series was shot. “It’s tough. It’s tough being back.” 

And while the memories were moving Levy to tears, he emphasized, “It’s what you have to hold onto is the memories of it all.”

Meanwhile, Seth Rogen shared how his Apple TV series The Studio—which earned  O’Hara an Emmy nomination in 2025—will address her passing in season two. 

“If anything, we’re acknowledging the idea that we are a little anchorless,” Rogen told The Times of London in April. “But, honestly, that is a part of life and what we all experience. And so while we try to not dwell too much on heavy themes in this show, they will be there in this second season. We are not ignoring it.”

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Indeed, the 44-year-old attributed much of the success of The Studio—which took home a whopping 13 wins for its first season—to O’Hara’s comedic presence and chops. 

“I told O’Hara when I first met her I thought she was the funniest person I’d ever had the pleasure of watching on screen,” Rogen wrote in a Jan. 30 tribute. “Getting to work with her was a true honour. She was hysterical, kind, intuitive, generous… she made me want to make our show good enough to be worthy of her presence in it.”

As he put it, and many TV stars have echoed, “We’re all lucky we got to live in a world with her in it.”

For more of the Emmys 2026, keep reading…

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