Beloved, Emmy-winning comedy series Schitt's Creek pushed positive LGBTQ+ representation to the forefront of mainstream media and helped so many queer people all over the world feel seen for the first time, but the viewers weren't the only ones impacted! As a matter of fact, the show even helped some of its own stars realize things about themselves, including Emily Hampshire!
During a recent appearance on the 4D with Demi Lovato podcast, the 40-year-old Canadian actress, who is best known for playing the Rosebud Motel's snarky clerk Stevie, opened up about how the show helped her realize she was a part of the LGBTQ+ community, and how one moment in particular -- the popular wine scene that she shared with co-star and Schitt's Creek creator Dan Levy's David Rose -- helped her learn what pansexuality was...and how that label might even apply to her.
"[David Rose] says, ultimately he likes the wine, not the label, and that he's pansexual. I had never heard the word pansexual before," Hampshire revealed to Lovato. "I've always considered myself super knowledgeable about LGBTQ+ stuff just because everybody in my life, my friends, are all mostly LGBTQ+ people, but I didn't know this."
Speaking about the reaction she got from fans on the internet after she started dating trans singer-songwriter Teddy Geiger, Hampshire continued:
"Cut to about five years later. I was dating someone and I saw on these message boards people being like, 'Is Stevie a lesbian?' 'Is Emily gay?' 'Who's Emily?'" she recounted. "I said to Dan, I was like, 'This is so weird. What am I?' Because I truly just fell in love with a person and where they were on the gender spectrum did not matter to me. And since then, it really doesn't matter to me. I have to like the person. I'm really attracted to a person's vibe. He was like, 'You're pansexual. Don't you watch our show?'"
"I believe in visibility. I know how important it is," she said later about the importance of seeing yourself represented on screen. "On the other hand, my utopian world is like, 'You don't have to identify yourself as anything.' I don't have to say I'm pansexual, bisexual, anything. I get why we have to now. But also with pronouns, my utopian world would be like, 'We're just human.'"
Watch Emily Hampshire's talk about Schitt's Creek's impact and more in her full appearance on 4D with Demi Lovato below!
RELATED | Emma Corrin Cosplaying Schitt's Creek's David Rose Is a Serve!
