Annie Murphy Says She Had $3 in Her Bank Account Before Landing 'Schitt's Creek' : 'Quite Bleak'

Annie Murphy’s life changed drastically when she was cast in the now-wildly popular sitcom Schitt’s Creek.

In a sneak peek at her appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show on Thursday, the actress opens up about her life before the show, revealing she was about to give up on her dreams of becoming an actress before she landed the role of Alexis Rose in the Dan and Eugene Levy-created series.

“Just before Schitt’s Creek, things were quite bleak,” she says. “My house had just burnt down, I had like, $3 in my bank account, I hadn’t worked in close to two years. And I had just blown my very first screen test — like blown it, blown it, blown it.”

“I found myself crying in the Pacific Ocean, a very snotty cry, and the universe was like, ‘Don’t do this anymore. This is not for you!'” recalls Murphy, 33. “But then, two days later, I got the audition for Schitt’s Creek.”

Dan, 36, and his father Eugene, 73, co-created the feel-good comedy in 2014. Though the show first began airing in Canada on CBC, and later on Pop TV in the U.S., when it began streaming on Netflix in 2017, it took off like a rocket. Now it’s being binged in countries all over the world, and its ratings on Pop TV have grown double annually since its 2015 debut.

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The show follows the formerly filthy-rich Rose family who, after becoming suddenly broke, are forced to move into a ramshackle motel in a town they once bought as a joke: Schitt’s Creek. Murphy stars alongside Dan, Eugene and Catherine O’Hara.

It was nominated for outstanding comedy series at the 2019 Emmy Awards, and best cast in a comedy at the 2019 SAG Awards.

The show is in its sixth and final season, currently airing Tuesdays (9 p.m. ET) on Pop TV. The Kelly Clarkson Show airs weekdays in syndication.