Playlists, Podcasts & Performing: Schitt's Creek's Emily Hampshire On Her Latest Ventures

Whether you know and love her for her scene-stealing roles as Rebecca on Chapelwaite, Jennifer on 12 Monkeys or as everyone’s favourite motel owner Stevie on Schitt’s Creek - Emily Hampshire can’t help but bring sardonic joy to every part she takes on.

But as of next week, Hampshire will also be lending her many talents to a brand new venture: a narrative podcast The Beautiful Liar, acting as a companion piece to the new X Ambassadors album of the same name. Hampshire takes on the role of Shadow in this heartwarming, coming-of-age story that follows a blind teenager Clementine discovering powers and characters in this exhilarating series, with an extremely personal connection to X Ambassadors brothers and bandmates Sam and Casey Harris. Being blind since birth, Casey grew up alongside Sam listening to audiobooks and radio dramas together, and the end result for The Beautiful Liar podcast is one of inclusivity, empowerment and plenty of amazing performances from its stellar cast - including Hampshire's incredible outing as the lead character Clementine's secret friend, who can also be spied in the music video for My Own Monster.

An extremely inclusive and immersive project, Hampshire also takes on the role of Executive Producer for The Beautiful Liar; and while she is certainly no stranger to voice acting and performing in general, Hampshire also has a few other tricks up her sleeve for immersing herself in her characters, both on screen and behind the mic, that lend from the musical realms as she explained on today's episode of The Green Room podcast.

"In the car I'll listen to, like, Top 40," Hampshire told host Tiana Speter, "Just the top stuff that's playing to Little Nas, Olivia Rodrigo...but then also: I love musicals! I love Hamilton! I love The Chicks, formerly known as The Dixie Chicks. So, it's really a big spectrum.

"I like making playlists, though. Any part I do, I always make a character playlist...which sounds embarrassing as that comes out of my mouth," Hampshire grimaced and laughed.

"I have my Rose playlist for this show Chapelwaite that I was doing and...I always make a playlist and then I do, kind of, scene-by-scene, the "mood"...just 'cos music really is a fast-track way to get you to wherever you need to go."

While Hampshire unforgettably brought the house down in the Season 5 finale of Schitt's Creek, with her character Stevie starring in the town's production of Cabaret (see the clip above if you've been living under a rock or just want to revisit and yell "that's my friend!" with Dan Levy), her ongoing association with music and singing in her many acting roles stems from a lifelong love of all things music - despite openly declaring she's not officially a singer. 

"Every series I've ever done...the first thing I say to the showrunner is: 'can we do a musical episode?!'," Hampshire laughed. 

"And that's what I said to Dan [Levy] on the first season of Schitt's, and he was like: 'maybe! The town might do one one day!'

"I never in a million years...I thought Stevie would be, like, the person dressed in black moving furniture in the back.

"I've had so many opportunities to do these musical numbers - which crazy 'cos I am not a singer. At all! But I just love it!"

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The Beautiful Liar podcast, featuring Emily Hampshire, will premiere next Wednesday 3 November on Amazon Music, with new episodes dropping every Wednesday (PT time). Grab a listen to the trailer here.

To catch the full chat with Emily Hampshire and host Tiana Speter below, you can listen and watch over at www.euphony.com.au, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts - or wherever you usually get your podcasts from.

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Need more music, film, TV and comedy in your life? Check out all previous episodes of The Green Room here. And did you know you can also watch episodes of The Green Room too? Head here to check out some of the recent videos.
If you're still hunting for content to feed your ears, be sure to check out some of the other exciting Euphony podcasts below!

• Press Play - a weekly musical wrap up of new albums, singles, as well as what’s big in reissues - and beyond!
  
• That Sucks! - fortnightly musings about the worst of your favourite things
• The Take With Willie Mason - join ex-Australian and NSW rugby league Willie Mason talking all things sports
• Rewind With Steve Bell - looking back on the classic albums that shaped the careers of Australian and international acts