Canadian actress Annie Murphy is an underrated gem in the entertainment world. Raised and educated in Canada, Murphy took a chance when she was 22 years old and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. She rose to prominence when she starred on CBC’s Schitt’s Creek, which ended up consisting of 80 episodes across six seasons. Murphy’s performance in the show, which lasted over five years, landed her many nominations and acclaim, marking her as a Canadian actress to keep an eye on. Since then, she has continued her career largely in television, making an appearance here and there in a film or music video.
Outside of Schitt’s Creek, Murphy can be seen in shows like Kevin Can F**k Himself, which recently dropped its second and last season on AMC+’s streaming service. In 2022 alone, she made an appearance in Murderville, a murder-mystery series on Netflix, and Russian Doll, which also can be streamed on Netflix. Per Deadline, Murphy will be a leading role in the animated series Praise Petey, but more information on that series is forthcoming. Murphy's television career holds quite a few hidden gems, but until the release of Praise Petey, these are her four best performances ranked.
4 The Plateaus
Released in 2015, The Plateaus was a Canadian comedy web series that landed a spot on CBC. Murphy stars in one of the leading roles as Morgan, a member of The Plateaus. The series centers around The Plateaus, which is an indie rock band that has to cope with a sudden tragedy when their lead singer is killed during one of their practices. Despite this, the band decides to continue and try to climb the ladder of success to have quote-on-quote made it in the music industry. Well, things are not as easy as they seem, and the three remaining members don’t have a clue as to how to make it without their beloved leader. Funny, well-written, and slightly a bit indulgent, The Plateaus boasts strong performances from all of its leads, including Murphy. The series is an underrated gem, although it gained some recognition in Canada.
3 Russian Doll
Netflix’s Russian Doll recently came out with its second season, continuing the antics of its main character, Nadia (played by Natasha Lyonne), as she keeps dying and getting thrust back in time. Unlike the first season, where she managed to break out of the infinite time loop she found herself trapped inside, Nadia somehow becomes trapped in her mother’s body in 1982, before she was even born. It is through this method that Nadia questionably decides to change her family’s fate, drawing on the classic dry humor that was woven into the show’s original season. There is a reason this show has become critically acclaimed, as it manages to take a literally repetitive subject and breathe new life into it, making it entertaining even if the same thing is technically happening over and over again. Murphy portrays a younger version of Ruth, a family friend through Nadia’s mother, during the second season.
2 Kevin Can F**ck Himself
In Kevin Can F**ck Himself, Murphy stars as Allison Devine-McRoberts, a woman who decides enough is enough. No longer satisfied with the life she has been living in Worcester, Massachusetts, she has come to realize that her marriage is essentially falling apart because her husband, Kevin (Eric Petersen) is severely lacking in many departments. The show utilizes traditional modes of the genre — through the medium of a sitcom — to tell the story of how female dissatisfaction in a marriage can unfold on the small screen. This show blends a mix of genres to varying degrees of success, but Murphy’s performance is an anchor to hold it all together, selling the concept that she is not happy with the way her life and marriage turned out in the end with dark comedy elements.
1 Schitt’s Creek
The Canadian television series Schitt’s Creek is very popular for many reasons, including the fact that it sells a good, digestible plot with entertaining characters. A wealthy family, the Roses, falls from grace when it is discovered that there was a serious case of embezzlement in the family business. As it turns out, once upon a time, the family purchased a small town named Schitt’s Creek, and now, broke and unable to live the lavish lifestyles they had before, they have to move to this town they kind of bought as a joke originally. Living in a motel inside the town, the family must now adjust to becoming quote-on-quote poor since they no longer have any money. Murphy portrays Alexis Rose, the family’s daughter. In the beginning, she struggles to adjust to life in the town, but by the end of the series, she pursues romantic relations with locals and learns to be the equivalent of a self-made girlboss.