TV Week chats with Eugene Levy about his no-longer-so-reluctant travels, and the importance of coming to Canada this season
When The Reluctant Traveler first launched, the show’s core premise was eliciting laughs by taking more-comfortable-on-his-couch Canadian treasure Eugene Levy through intense excursions like ice floating in the Arctic Circle and spending a bug-infested night in the Costa Rican rainforest.
But after two seasons of being not-so-gently coaxed into broadening his worldview via unique cultural experiences and visits to stunning locales around the globe, can the Schitt’s Creek star even call himself “reluctant” anymore? “I’m still not fond of the actual travel experience,” said Levy, when TV Week sat down with him in-person in London, at an Apple event promoting the hit travel series’ third season. “I mean, just coming here, there was a three-hour delay and you go, ‘Why don’t I just go home? Is it really worth it? Wouldn’t I be happier just going home instead of going through this?’” But whether it is journeying to South Korea, India or Vancouver, Levy is now able to articulate what makes all this globetrotting worth the hassle — and no, it’s still not a hard post on his Instagram. “I am learning a lot through the show, and the one big thing I’m learning is you can gain more out of where you are through the people that you’re talking to than you can just snapping pictures.”
With the season having just wrapped up on October 31 with an episode covering Levy’s foray through B.C., we delve into the now-veteran traveloguer’s “bucket list” theme for this third season, and how both the show and its host continue to defy expectations.
Everyone has been talking about your episode touring Windsor Castle with Prince William. How did a show about a man who doesn’t like to travel turn into the most heartfelt interview with the future king of England?
Boy, I wish I could answer that. I don’t know how it happened, but I’m glad it did. It was quite amazing, and a surprise for me. I found out about it on camera, but why or how he decided to do it, I guess that’s the one question I didn’t ask him.
This comes off as a more emotional season, overall. Did you feel like if you had evolved as a traveller, the show had to evolve too?
That’s how it’s shaping up. Through it all, I’m getting so much better at communicating with people. I was never a very social animal. I don’t initiate conversation easily with people I don’t know — never have. But I’m learning to do that here. And because of that, some episodes, like the Mexico “Day of the Dead” episode, you get into some really interesting and emotional territory with people. I think I’m generally a caring person, but I am just learning to open up and take it in and ask more questions and not be afraid to get into those areas that are on the deeper, emotional side.
How did the bucket list concept emerge?
The bucket list concept came up as a way for me to try and create an experience where, instead of a bucket list that only deals with locations, I thought of being in a certain place for a certain reason, like celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland, or experiencing the K-wave in South Korea, or the music tradition and formality of Vienna. That, I thought, would be a really interesting thing for the viewer. I have to say, I’m learning a lot and it’s doing really good things for me to experience things that I wasn’t before.
How is it changing you?
It is certainly making me open up more. This is the only job I’ve ever had where I am myself and not playing a character. So, I realized I have to start revealing more about myself. You can’t just [say] you’re a “reluctant traveller.” What is that? Just the title of the show. The viewer had to find out exactly why I was the way I was, right? And to do that, I had to open up more about myself and talk about personal things, like my family, which I had never done before. That was a good thing for me to do. And the other is just how I deal with people on the show that I’m meeting and being able to engage them in a way that I couldn’t before. And that I think is a very positive thing.
What was it like to share this experience with your daughter Sarah, by going to Ireland together?
That was just so sweet. Listen, I love working with my kids. Any chance I can get. She was able to do that episode, and working with her was the most fun because she’s really funny and so good. [Outside the show,] we got a chance to learn a little bit about my wife’s genealogy that goes back to Ireland. Because Sarah now does have Irish blood in her, it seemed we could get into that storyline as well. But it’s just the sweetest thing in the world. I never feel like I’m working when I’m working with my family. It always feels like we’re just at home shooting the breeze.
Then there’s your episode in Louisiana, where you’re talking about your son Dan coming out. That was really touching.
Well, case in point, that’s an example of something I just wouldn’t have done years ago. I never talked about myself or a personal side to myself. It’s a good example of how that enhances a moment and how people take to it. And how it touches other people’s lives, as well, in a very positive way, where they can identify with what we’re talking about, and it could possibly make things easier for them, in the way our show Schitt’s Creek did for the LGBTQ+ community. You know what I mean? There are good things that come out of it.
There is an episode set in Vancouver as well. What does it mean to you to be Canadian at this moment in time?
I’ve always been incredibly proud to be in Canada. I still live in Canada. I’m one of the few people who don’t just love to talk about Canada but still live in Toronto. I don’t just come back for TIFF [the Toronto International Film Festival]. I’ve actually lived the life there. And since the 51st state thing came up? Yeah, there’s a whole new sense of nationalism, which felt really powerful and strong.
Was it important to do a Canada episode?
Yeah, there’s so many places to see in this country that are absolutely beautiful. Vancouver is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, so I was thrilled to death when that came up. And then of course, getting Michael Bublé to be a part of it as a Vancouver resident — he grew up there. When he said yes, I thought, “Wow, that’s great.” Never met him before. We met on the ski slope.
And now you’re fast friends?
And now . . . well, I don’t know whether we’re fast friends, but we had an amazing relationship doing the show and we’ve kind of texted back and forth. We keep in touch and that is great.
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The Reluctant Traveler, streaming on Apple TV