Seth Rogen leaves audience in tears with moving tribute to Catherine O'Hara as she wins first posthumous award

The likes of Jenna Ortega and Kathryn Hahn were moved to tears by Seth Rogen as he paid tribute to Catherine O'Hara at the Actors Awards.

While the Schitt's Creek and Home Alone star passed away in January, it's clear that the impact she made with her work isn't going away anytime soon.

O'Hara died on January 30 at the age of 71, with her cause of death going on to be cited as a pulmonary embolism.

One of her last acting roles before her death was in the AppleTV series The Studio, where she played the character Patty Leigh.

The TV show has won a series of awards, and last night was no different with O'Hara being posthumously awarded outstanding performance by a female actor in a comedy series.

Seth Rogen, who wrote and stars in The Studio, accepted the award on O'Hara's behalf and paid a moving tribute to the well-loved actress.

Seth Rogen and Catherine O'Hara pictured together in March 2025 (Emma McIntyre/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images)

"I was asked to assume the sad honour of accepting this award on behalf of O’Hara," he said.

"I know she would have been honoured to receive this award from her fellow performers, who she respected so much."

Rogen continued: "I’ve been reflecting on the time I was fortunate enough to spend with her and working with her and something I’ve been marvelling at is her ability to be generous and kind and gracious, while never minimising her own talent and her own ability to contribute to the work we were doing.

"She knew she could destroy and she wanted to destroy every day."

Jenna Ortega was moved to tears by Seth Rogen's speech (Netflix)

Rogen continued to recall the night before O'Hara was filming, she would send an email to him and his co-creator Evan Goldberg, which contained 'a completely rewritten version of the scene she was in, it made not just her character better, but her scene better and the show better'.

"It showed you can be a genius and be kind and one does not have to come at the expense of the other," he continued.

Watch his full speech here:

The camera panned around the celebrity-filled room as Rogen gave his speech, which showed Jenna Ortega (who starred in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice with O'Hara), and fellow The Studio star Kathyrn Hahn welling up.

The rest of the room were also visibly moved by Rogen's sentiments about the late Hollywood star.

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