Seth Rogen confirmed that the second season of The Studio will be doing much more than just moving past the loss of Catherine O’Hara. Specifically, according to the co-creator, the upcoming season will directly confront her absence rather than quietly writing her out of the story.
Seth Rogen says The Studio Season 2 is “not ignoring” Catherine O’Hara’s death
Speaking to The Times of London, Rogen said the show is acknowledging the idea that they are “a little anchorless” following her passing. According to him, the creative team did not choose to sidestep the grief but instead allowed it to shape the season entirely.
As the co-creator explained, the heavy themes will be present in Season 2, focusing on necessity, given that the entire season had already been written with O’Hara’s character very much alive and central to the story. Evan Goldberg was equally candid about the toll it has taken, describing it as an unbelievable challenge both emotionally and creatively.
The season had been written for O’Hara to be there, with everything set and in place, and then the shock waves of her death ended up running through the entire production.
O’Hara passed away on January 30, 2026, at the age of 71, following a brief illness.
She played Patty Leigh in Season 1, a former studio head turned producer and mentor to Rogen’s character Matt Remick, a role widely considered the emotional anchor of the show. She appeared in all ten episodes of the first season and earned both a 2025 Emmy nomination and a 2026 Golden Globe nod for her performance.
Rogen had previously accepted her posthumous Actor Award on her behalf, where he described how she would send him and Goldberg a fully rewritten version of her scenes the evening before every shoot.
By his account, every single rewrite made the scene better and the show stronger as a whole. Season 2 is currently in production and will feature guest appearances from Madonna, Julia Garner, Michael Keaton, and Donald Glover.
O’Hara did not film any scenes before her death, and so far, the release date has not yet been announced.
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