Former Schitt's Creek co-stars Sarah Levy and Tm Rozon say Susan Ireland and Luke Roman, the agents they play on the Syfy series SurrealEstate, are adapting to big changes in their lives three years after the events of Season 2's finale.
Season 2 aired in 2023 and ended with Susan and Luke's support staff -- scientist August (Maurice Dean Wint), front desk manager Zooey (Savannah Basley) and former Catholic priest Phil (Adam Korson) -- leaving the firm for greener pastures.
Further unsettling Luke is the fact that his dead father Carl's ghost (Art Hindle) seems to have moved on to another realm.
Meanwhile, Susan is still trying to get her head around the fact that she spent weeks possessed by her own smart home.
"We've had the time to sit with it, to deal with it, to reconfigure what we think the Roman Ireland Agency will be and Season 3 opens fairly confidently in a new chapter of the Roman Ireland Agency's life," Levy, 38, told UPI in a Zoom interview Monday."Just when we think we've lost everybody, we slowly realize we haven't and the bond is stronger than we had even originally thought, so, luckily, we're able to talk a couple of people back in, but it's definitely an adjustment, even as actors showing up on set and realizing, 'Oh, wait, this is different.'"
Rozon, 48, agreed.
"There's nothing better than the phone call you get [saying] that you're actually coming back and what a feeling it is to lose something you love and then get that back," he added. "You don't need to lose it in the first place [to appreciate it], in my opinion, but what a wonderful feeling to actually get something back that you love so much."
The show premiered in 2021, but has experienced long gaps between seasons because it had been renewed, then canceled, then revived again, only to be plagued by COVID restrictions and dual writers/actors' strikes.
Like the Roman Ireland Agency, SurrealEstate also changed locations.
"We switched where we filmed with a brand new crew in a new city, same as the show," Rozon said.
"We moved on and it was new for both the character and myself, and it was very exciting and I was very, very grateful."
"I missed my friends and I missed my co-workers and the people I love to go to work with, but being able to play a possessed side of her [was worth it]," she added.
"This is why I love the show so much. It's never-ending. There's always something new," she said. "It felt so good to not care about what people thought of you. That was the best part. You can kind of be mean and say things that are upsetting or off-putting and it's easy. You sort of relish that."
Rozon learned a lot about Luke watching him lose, then regain his power to communicate with the dead in Season 2.
"Luke realized it's OK to be vulnerable and to show that," Rozon said.
"He was able to do that with Susan and his found family and the people around him and lean on them for support because I think he was trying to go out it alone for so long because he thought he could or he thought he should," he added. "When he realized he really didn't have to and he had these people that were actually there for him and would appreciate him being honest with himself and them, then they can actually become that team."
Season 3 shows Susan as an equal partner with Luke instead of just an employee at his firm.
"I can't do this alone and we realize we need the team back," Rozon said. "Everyone was such an important piece to that puzzle. As you see, episode to episode, we bring each one back. We can't do it without them."
Levy said SurrealEstate is an especially rewarding job because it is wildly entertaining while also looking deeply into issues like trauma, technology and the concept of home.
"Those are the most fun parts of it for me. I think what the show does best is create this base of sci-fi and scares and spookiness, but there is such a core of heart and what life is really about," she added.
"It's these beautiful, heartfelt moments -- really touching moments -- of helping the paranormal entity or whatever it is cross over and move along. Let's get to the bottom of why they're stuck in this 'in between,'" she said. "There is something really beautiful and emotional about helping people cross over and allowing them to go with peace."