Post-'Schitt's Creek,' A Busy Emily Hampshire Captivates in 'The Mattachine Family'

EDGE: In the upcoming film, "Humane," which I've seen, you play one nasty bitch.

Emily Hampshire: Oh, that was fun!

EDGE: Can you tell me a little bit about being cast in that crazy ensemble. You'd worked with Caitlin Cronenberg's dad on "Cosmopolis."

Emily Hampshire: So, Caitlin, I've known for a really long time as a photographer in Toronto. She does all the photos for TIFF (Toronto Film Festival), and we've been friends and she sent me a DM saying, would you be in my first feature? And I said, Yes, exclamation point, exclamation point. And then I was like, ooph, I hope it's good. (laughs)

Then I read the script, and it was amazing. And I was like, well, the only person who can play my brother is Jay Baruchel. We've done a lot of movies together and we've never played siblings, which is weird. Because that's our relationship in life. We're so like that. So, then she got Jay and it just felt like a family affair. It was really fun. It was like doing a play, though I wouldn't call doing a play fun, because I haven't done one since high school and I think I'd be terrified. But in that situation, it was fun.

EDGE: I'm not usually into thrillers but I really enjoyed it–the crazy dystopian future and the post ecological collapse...

Emily Hampshire: I do think that's the future that's not too far off. Frighteningly, so.

EDGE: "The End of Sex" is another gem with a terrific performance from you.

Emily Hampshire: I cannot believe you've seen all my little Canadian movies! Jonas Chernick was the writer and star of that. We had done a movie 10 years before called "My Awkward Sexual Adventure," and this was kind of a spiritual successor of us being older. He's such a great writer. And, again, it's that Canadian thing of my entire career before "Schitt's Creek," which I don't think anyone knows exists! (laughs) But I have been working since I was 12 and it was all doing a movie with one directorN, and they'd hired me for something else and a friend writing something for me. So, working with your friends in this community, in Canada, (was) my entire resume up until "Schitt's," So to get to do that again with Jonas and Sean Garrity, the director, was really great.

EDGE Isn't it funny that one project can happen and just catapult you. And then you have to figure out how to deal with it.

Emily Hampshire: Yeah. I think I was really lucky that I had worked a lot in Canada where it's really blue collar. As an actor, there's no star system. You're working, you're happy. But I'd been in things like Cronenberg's movie ("Cosmopolis"). We went to Cannes. It was with Robert Pattinson. It was gonna be the biggest thing ever. And then it just wasn't. So, you have this kind of roller coaster that you get used to. And in a good way when something like "Schitt's" happens, it blows up out of nowhere! I mean, we were done. (laughs) The show was done by the time everybody started watching it. It makes it a lot easier to deal with, that it's just like par for the course. And you also know that that's not gonna last...Just keep working.

EDGE: Do you have a favorite role--one that has stayed with you?

Emily Hampshire: Oh, yeah. Jennifer, "12 Monkey." What's funny is that when "Schitt's" broke out, anybody I'd meet would expect me to be like Stevie, who's very cool...But they'd get Jennifer! I am much more (her). Also, it was time travel. I got to go to every time period. I got to sing Pink's "U + Ur Hand" to Hitler. I got to do "99 Luftballoons" in German, the greatest party trick I could ever ask for. Also, the showrunner, Terry Matalas, is a genius...Jennifer, I love her so much. We've been talking about trying to do a spin-off of some kind of, like, primary Jennifer thing.

EDGE: That would be amazing. I don't think enough people saw it.

Emily Hampshire: I, too, don't think enough people saw it. And unfortunately, a few years later, when the pandemic happened, it was like it was science fiction when we shot it and then it became reality when that happened, because the whole thing is based on a virus that takes over.

EDGE: Please come to New York and do a play!

Emily Hampshire: Oh my God! I love musicals! I became an actor because I saw "Les Mis," and I wanted to be Eponine. I got the red hat, and I wore it all the time. (laughs) It's funny in "Schitt's," I got to do "Cabaret." Sally Bowles in "Cabaret" was my dream role. Any show I do, at the beginning, I'm always like, maybe we could do a musical episode! And Dan (Levy) was like, yeah, maybe someday. Then when I found out the town was going to put on "Cabaret," I thought Stevie would be one of the girls in black moving furniture. I never thought she would get to sing "Maybe This Time." But to me, the dream come true in stuff like "Schitt's" or "12 Monkeys" is that I know I'm not good enough to do Broadway. I'm not a real trained singer. I'm not a dancer of any kind. But I would commit. I. Would. Commit!

EDGE: But neither is Sally...

Emily Hampshire: I know! That's why I always wanted to play Sally because I saw Jennifer Jason Leigh do it. And she's not a great singer. She's just not. (laughs) But what a performance! It was amazing. You didn't want her to be a great singer. She was just the best.

EDGE: It's back on Broadway as we speak. You should have your team contact the producers!

Emily Hampshire: I'd be terrified. If it ever happened, though, I'd call you and be like, you have to sit in the front row. Every night.

EDGE: I'd be there. So, what's on the horizon? What can Emily Hampshire fans see you in next?

Emily Hampshire: I have the second season of the show, "The Rig," coming out on Amazon in January. That is something very different than anything people mostly know me for. It's set on an oil rig in Scotland. I love that cast so much. It's with Martin Compston and Iain Glen. Everybody's Scottish. I can't understand them. Aside from that, I've been doing a lot of writing. I'm doing a series for Elliott Page. Now that I'm writing I kind of love it. It's the greatest thing. Just being in my own head alone is, like, my happy place.

"The Mattachine Family" is available to stream on all major digital platforms via Giant Pictures.

This interview has been edited for content, clarity and length.