Eugene Levy is returning for another season of 'The Reluctant Traveler,' and this time, the Apple TV+ series is becoming more personal.
In Season 2, which premiered Friday, Levy and the crew chose a less traditional European trip, traveling from north to south instead of visiting the more popular cities like London and Paris.
Their journey included Scotland, where Levy's mother was born. The 77-year-old Emmy winner had never visited the country after his mother moved the family to Ontario, Canada.
“Even though my mom was from Scotland, I never had a strong urge to get over there,” Levy told TheWrap. “When it came up this year, I said that would be good to see the country and the city where my mother was born, and when I got there, surprisingly to me, an emotional connection happened.”
Levy saw what his mother's childhood was like as he explored a replica of the tenement where her family lived — which, despite fitting 11 people in three rooms, was considered upscale for the community.
“What really drove it home for me emotionally was the fact that she never talked about how difficult it was to be jammed into a little place with all those people and not a whole lot going on,” Levy said. “The fact she never talked about it made it a more emotional experience for me, because that place was just where she grew up as a kid, and all her stories were just stories of growing up as a kid, but they weren’t hardship stories … That was an emotionally fulfilling experience for me.”
The production team uncovered Levy's family's Scottish crest and gave him a Jewish tartan he would later wear as a kilt.
“I actually didn’t know about the genealogy aspect of it until we got there and then found out that’s where we were going to go with this thing,” Levy recalled. “I’m usually not that public when it comes to family, but I thought it could be interesting.”
While executive producer David Brindley guided Levy through travels out of his comfort zone throughout the show’s inaugural season, exploring Levy’s genealogy was a completely unique experience.
“We don’t do it much on the series, but I have to say, especially that episode … when [Eugene was] visiting [his] great grandpa’s grave — something really tangible to be at — was really special and moving,” Brindley told TheWrap. “It was a great privilege for us to unearth that history, and then to be able to deliver it to him and [see him] literally walk through the history of [his] family. It was quite extraordinary.”
Thinking about his time working on “The Reluctant Traveler,” Levy said he imagines doing the show for another 10 years or so, but suspects others will “have something to say about that.”
“I’m loving the show — I love David, I love the production team,” Levy said. “It’s like a giant reunion every time we get together and come back and do the show. That helps make it fun for me, too, because if it wasn’t that pleasant a job to do, this show wouldn’t be working at all.”
“It will be interesting to see where that journey leads, because there is definitely a journey of growth in [Eugene],” Brindley said. “We are all committed to that, and we would be thrilled to see its progression.”
For Levy, “The Reluctant Traveler” was a “great follow up” to “Schitt’s Creek,” which ended its six-season run in April 2020.
“The idea of doing another comedy was not appealing to me, because I couldn’t imagine doing something that wasn’t nearly as good as what we just finished, so this show fit in perfectly,” Levy said, also stating that the “idea of doing another long-lasting scripted show doesn’t interest me much.
Levy was recently selected for the fourth season of Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building” in a recurring role, joining new additions Eva Longoria, Molly Shannon and Kumail Nanjiani.
“If something really excites me in terms of, ‘Wow, this would be really interesting to do,’ then that’s something I would consider,” Levy said. “But I don’t need to be working. I don’t feel I have to work to get through a day. Some people need work, because I don’t know what else they’d be doing. But when I have nothing on the agenda, I’m one happy guy.”
The initial two episodes of “The Reluctant Traveler” are currently available on Apple TV+, with new episodes releasing on Fridays.
