For over half a decade, Letterkenny has spun gold out of the problems of the 5000 residents of the eponymous fictional town in Ontario, and it just got a lease for two more years. The little Crave series that could has since found wider acclaim, along the likes of Schitt's Creek, thanks to a deal with Hulu.
The slice-of-life comedy follows the lives of the Hicks, Skids, Hockey Players and First Nations Natives who live in the farming town and who may not understand each other's issues but always have each other's backs. Creator Jared Keeso plays the role of Wayne, who stands in the center of the quotidian chaos along with his sister Katy (Michelle Mylett) and best friends Dan and Daryl (Nathan Dales).
Mylett and Dales spoke to Screen Rant about what makes the friendships at the heart of the story so special, who they hope to spend more time with in future seasons, and which of them Bonnie McMurray should really date.
How do you keep yourselves on your toes as actors when the settings and situations often don't change?
Michelle Mylett: The writing keeps us on our toes. I'm always pleasantly surprised every time we get a new season and new scripts to read even if it's, like you said, much of the same. There's always fun things for us to do, fun situations, and fun dialogue that just keeps us excited.
And it does really keep us on our toes, especially all the jokes and all the wordplay. All those things are a good brain exercise.
Nathan Dales: Definitely, the writing keeps you on your toes 100%. Then also the commitment from all the other actors as well, because the last thing you want to do is be the low man at it. You don't want to be the one who's fucking the dog here. You want to be the one who is pushing this along and making it better. Everybody has that attitude towards it too, which is great. Because if they didn't, that doesn't make any sense. But yeah, everybody has that attitude. That's what keeps us on our toes: you might be the one holding up the ship.
Michelle Mylett: You've got to bring it yourself.
You mentioned the word play, which is amazing on this show. Is there ever a situation where new people come in and you have to help them with that wordplay? You guys have figured it all out nine seasons in, but do you ever have to pay it forward?
Michelle Mylett: I mean, not really. When people come on the show, they've watched it, they know what they're in for. From everything I've seen, everyone we've ever had on the show has completely showed up and sometimes put us in our place. We're like, "Jesus, we've got to step it up. This new guy just crushed us."
It's nice, though. And it's cool, because it's a really supportive set. It's not like we're like, "You better not mess up." We want people to succeed; we want everyone to have fun. That's part of the the joy of the show, in my opinion. It might have its challenges and people make mistakes, but that's human. And that's okay; we just keep it moving.
Part of the joy of the show is also the friendship between Katy, Dan, Daryl, and Wayne. This relationship has now lasted onscreen nine seasons, but of course, it's a lifelong bond. Can you guys talk about the evolving friendship there?
Nathan Dales: They've obviously been friends for years and years and years before the start of the show. I think you get to a point in your life where you just start, if you are still continuing to hang out with the people that you hung out with for a lot of time - you've chosen them. Because you can ditch people as much as you want. So, if you continued to hang out with these people, then they must mean something to you.
Because of that, I think the relationships just grow stronger. You have your trials and your tribulations and stuff like that. But again, if you've chosen to remain with this group of people, it means there's something there. And it means you probably like them, and they're okay with your evolution as a person, and you're okay with their evolution as a person. Because of that, it makes everything stronger. And again, you get your spirits and your spats and whatever, no big deal. But I think it just makes all the relationships much stronger.
And I think that's what has happened all throughout the seasons; everything's just gotten stronger, from the characters to us as the cast and stuff like that. It's just the same sort of thing. It's fun, and you just enjoy the hell out of the people that you're with, and you really choose to be there. Which is so nice, and it makes for just a fantastic environment.
One running joke that I love is how everyone likes Bonnie McMurray, as they should. But if you guys had to debate who should really be with Bonnie, who would you choose?
Nathan Dales: Daryl. Why Daryl? Because he's nice. He's a nice guy, and he treats people well, and he's not a total dickwad. Pretty simple. There's a lot of dickwads in the world, and he is not one of them. He's got good values and good friends around him, and I think that Bonnie would be lucky - he would be lucky to have Bonnie too. Just saying.
Michelle Mylett: I was gonna say maybe she would be the one to make one of the hockey boys kind of step up and grow up, perhaps.
Nathan Dales: I could see that too.
Letterkenny has been renewed for two more seasons, which is great. Is there any character you'd like to interact with more that you haven't gotten a chance to hang out with as much?
Michelle Mylett: We've all had scenes together, for the most part. I always love when I get to work with Tanis. I think Katy and Tanis, as characters, have a lot of cool similarities and differences. I'd love to work with her more, and her crew, personally.
Nathan Dales: I think I just like working with the Skids. I like working with Tyler and Evan, because they're just really quick. They're really fun to work with. They're always on their game, and it's fun. In terms of people that I don't get to interact with as much, those guys definitely are always my first choice to interact with more, just because I think they're great performers. They're always prepared, they always bring it, and I just really like that. So, those guys for sure.
All nine seasons of Letterkenny are available to stream on Hulu.