Legacy doesn’t have to be inherited. Well, there’s something wild about watching a son actively duck the shade of his father’s fame, only to later build an empire with him brick by brick. We mean, it’s like standing on the shoulders of a giant and still choosing to climb the mountain barefoot. When we first learned that Dan Levy (a guy we vaguely remembered from The Hills: The After Show) had created Schitt’s Creek, many fans might have thought, Oh, neat. Another Hollywood kid cashing in on a famous last name.

But then it turns out Dan Levy dodged the nepotism narrative, distancing himself from his actor dad, Eugene Levy…Why? Because he didn’t want to be ‘just the son of someone famous’. That hits different.

The long avoidance: Why Dan Levy took the scenic route Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy, Annie Murphy, and Dan Levy...