seth rogen says work on The Studio season 2 has been “very therapeutic” after Catherine O'Hara’s sudden death at the start of the year. Speaking at an Apple TV event for nominees at the BAFTA Television Awards 2026, he said returning to the show was “very hard,” but the cast has been able to process the loss together.
Rogen on the set's daily routine
“Being with this group of people every day and getting to work with them and getting to make each other laugh has been, I think, very therapeutic, in many ways,” Rogen said. “And it kind of allowed us to move through it all together, which has been very, you know... I think, as far as dealing with things like this go, it's been one of the better versions of it.”
That is the strongest clue yet that the production is treating season 2 as more than a standard return to work. Catherine O'Hara played the main role of mentor figure Patty Leigh in the Apple TV comedy series, and Rogen has already said the show will pay tribute to her and the character in an as-yet-undisclosed way.
What season 2 inherited
A second season was ordered in May 2025, and filming started earlier this year. By the time Rogen spoke, the cast was already back in production, which means the tribute to O'Hara is being built into episodes that are still in motion rather than left to a separate special or off-screen acknowledgment.
Ike Barinholtz added one practical limit to that process: there was “very little unused footage” of O'Hara from season 1. “There are a lot of things that are left on the cutting room floor,” he said, but the edit room did not leave much material to repurpose, so the show’s tribute will have to do more narrative work than a simple clip package.
BAFTA nomination and tribute
The Studio was nominated for Best International Programme at this year’s BAFTA TV Awards, giving the series a public moment while the cast was still carrying that loss. Rogen and Barinholtz also teased scenes set at the Venice Film Festival, but the next instalment does not yet have a release date.
That leaves the tribute as the key unresolved piece for viewers and industry watchers: the season is already in production, the show has awards attention, and the cast has now said the work itself has become part of how they are getting through O'Hara’s death.
