Annie Murphy


Anne Frances Murphy is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her starring role as Alexis Rose in the CBC sitcom Schitt's Creek. For her performance in the series, she garnered acclaim and received nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Critics' Choice Television Award, and four Canadian Screen Awards.

Early life

Murphy was born an only child in Ottawa, Ontario. Both her parents were teachers. She attended high school at Elmwood School in Ottawa, where she performed in stage productions. Murphy enrolled at Queen's University for one year before pursuing a degree in theatre performance at Concordia University. She then trained at the Canadian Film Centre Actors' Conservatory. She moved to Los Angeles at age 22 to pursue a career in acting.

Career

2007–2014: Career beginnings

Murphy made her acting debut in the crime-thriller television film Lethal Obsession. She continued to perform small roles and background characters in various other Canadian films, such as Story of Jen, Lick, and A Windigo Tale. She also appeared in several Canadian television series, including Good God and Rookie Blue. She said that during this time, she was a "struggling actress" who "was begging to go in for comedies", but her resume had only drama.
Murphy also appeared in numerous American television series, including , Blue Mountain State, Against the Wall, and Beauty & the Beast.

2015–present: Breakthrough with ''Schitt's Creek''

As a struggling actress, Murphy was considering quitting acting as a career path, recalling in 2020,
In 2013, she auditioned for and won the role of Alexis Rose on the CBC sitcom Schitt's Creek. She played the character for the series' entire run of six seasons, from January 2015 until April 2020.
After six years in Montreal, Murphy moved to Toronto, where she co-created and starred in The Plateaus, a 2015 web series about four insufferable musicians. Her performance in the show earned her a nomination at the 2016 Canadian Screen Awards for Best Performance in a Program or Series Produced for Digital Media. At the same ceremony, Murphy was nominated for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance in Schitt's Creek. She earned the same nomination for this performance in 2018, 2019, and 2020. Additionally, this performance earned Murphy nominations for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series at the 2019 Critics' Choice Television Awards, Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series at the 2019 Screen Actors Guild Awards, and Best Actress in a Breakthrough Role at the 2019 Gracie Awards, the latter of which she won.
In February 2020, she was cast as the lead in AMC's television dark comedy series Kevin Can F— Himself. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, production of the show had been delayed. In July 2020, Murphy was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series at the Primetime Emmy Awards for her performance in the final season of Schitt's Creek.

Activism and advocacy

Murphy is an ambassador for CARE Canada, a global relief agency. In 2019, she visited Jordan to learn about CARE's efforts to empower women and girls in the region.

Personal life

Murphy married singer and musician Menno Versteeg in August 2011. In a 2013 fire at their home, the two were uninjured but lost most of the belongings.
Murphy has a tattoo of James Stewart's silhouette on her wrist, citing his "heartbreaking, sweet, and funny" performance in Harvey as one of her influences.

Filmography

Film

Television

Discography

Singles

Awards and nominations