David and Patrick might be ready to walk down the aisle but, according to Schitt’s Creek creator/actor/executive product Dan Levy, the couple wasn’t always endgame.
Speaking with EW, Levy admitted that Noah Reid’s casting was pretty rushed since they just wanted to give David a potential relationship ASAP. He explained,
“We cast him halfway through the season. David needed a relationship because he’s so fragile when it comes to love. We thought, if it works, great.”
He continued,
“Noah could have come into the show and we could’ve gotten along, but there wouldn’t have been the same spark. Then we would have probably inevitably either written him out or had it die off at some point.”
It was pretty obvious from the moment the first two met that there was something special, well, at least to viewers. Their first kiss is one of the most memorable parts of their relationship and probably one of the most vulnerable moments for Patrick.
[Related: ‘Schitt’s Creek’: 12 Sweaters We’re Stealing From David Rose]
But behind the scenes, Levy was still feeling it out. Reid joined the show in season 3 and by the end, Levy was ready to keep him on for at least one more season.
“I was like, ‘Yeah, all right. Let’s give him another season, see what happens.’”
So, when did Levy finally realize that the two were meant to be? According to Levy, it wasn’t until David serenaded Patrick towards the end of season 4. The cast and crew had felt so emotional during filming that the director and the camera team were all crying. And when the episode aired, fans had a similar reaction.
“I don’t think I knew how emotional it would be for people who were invested in the storyline. Once it aired, people were like, ‘I was sobbing through your performance.’ I’m glad that it carried a deeper significance.”
He added,
“I knew that things were working with Noah. I knew that what we were doing was something I hadn’t seen before on TV.”
And it’s true, Dan Levy had created something never before portrayed on television — a deeply intimate relationship between two gay men.
Although LGBTQ+ representation has significantly grown over the last few years, there still remains this double standard for queer couples that isn’t in line with their heterosexual counterparts. While straight couples are allowed to show a full range of emotions and moments, LGBTQ+ couples are often held back. Think Cam and Mitch in Modern Family who rarely touch, let alone kiss, and whose tender moments are few and far between.
But it was this kind of double-standard that Levy was determined to break from the start. Levy previously told Out magazine,
“Writers’ rooms and television studios paint gay love stories with a different brush than they do straight love stories. There’s more caution as to how intimate you can be. It was my intention with this relationship to never once question whether we were taking it too far.”
I think it’s more than fair to say that Levy has 100% succeeded.
To hear more about what Levy has to say about building David and Patrick’s relationship, read our article here.
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