Schitt’s Creek: The real-life financial downfall of an actress that inspired the show’s creation

Schitt’s Creek, the beloved sitcom, impressed viewers with the humorous tale of the Rose family, who had to relocate to an unknown town after they lost all of their wealth. With less than 100 episodes and six seasons, the show depicted the story of how the family got over the challenges and learned to live in a small town without their wealth and fortune.

Although an original series created by Eugene and Dan Levy, who also star in the series, Schitt's Creek has a Hollywood connection to it. In 2019, while talking to Vanity Fair, Dan Levy revealed that he might have taken inspiration from Hollywood actress Kim Basinger’s story of buying a town called Braselton in Georgia in 1989. She had to sell the town in 1995.

More on this in our story.

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Schitt’s Creek: Dan Levy took inspiration from Kim Basinger’s financial woes while creating the superhit series

The Oscar-winning actress, Kim Basinger, bought the town of Braselton in Georgia in 1989 and had several plans to change the town and make it into a tourist spot. However, the plan didn’t work out due to her going into bankruptcy after being sued for the film, Boxing Helena.

The LA Times reported that Basinger was sued for breach of oral contract for the film, Boxing Helena, and settled to pay $3.8 million, resulting in her bankruptcy. Around the time, she also sold Braselton for a reported amount of $ 1 million after buying it in a whopping amount of $20 million, reportedly.

While talking to Vanity Fair, Dan Levy revealed about reading about her, which later became the premise of the show. He said:

"We were in the early stages of figuring out what the backstory was. We started to research different ways that people had lost tremendous amounts of money or gone bankrupt. In the process, I stumbled upon an article about Kim Basinger having bought this town in Georgia."

Other than using Basinger’s story of going bankrupt and of buying and selling the town, Schitt's Creek did not use any real-life experience that the actress had gone through during the difficult time. As Dan Levy further added:

"Unfortunately, it took a probably very traumatizing experience in Kim Basinger’s life for us to get here, but yeah…It was the most unlikely of Google searches."

Also Read: "It's the hair": When Schitt's Creek cast engaged in a heart-warming round of 'know-each-other' quiz

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How did Kim Basinger react to being the inspiration for Schitt’s Creek?

Kim Basinger, who won an Oscar for her role in L.A. Confidential, went through a difficult time in her life during the early 1990s as she was facing financial struggles.

Although not using the difficult times of her life, the actor and filmmaker, Dan Levy, took inspiration from Basinger’s financial downfall as the premise of his Black Comedy show, Schitt’s Creek, in which the Rose family loses their wealth after being embezzled by their business manager and end up in the town of Schitt’s Creek, which they own and try to sell initially.

In a 2025 interview with Vanity Fair, Basinger found out about being the inspiration for the show and said:

"Who knew? I love that show. So, hey, made for good material."

She further joked about it and said:

"That would be lovely to have those royalty checks."

Other than Dan and Eugene Levy portraying the roles of David and his father, Johnny, respectively, Schitt's Creek also stars Catherine O'Hara as Moira Rose and Annie Murphy as Alexis Rose.

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Schitt's Creek is available for streaming on Hulu.

Read More: Where is Schitt's Creek based in? Real life location of the show revealed | "Bébé'', You Need This: A Guide to Moira Rose’s unique vocabulary in Schitt's Creek