On Thursday night, a long week finally hit Jane Levy. She’d wrapped up an acting class and reluctantly went out afterward, for “too much chicken” and “a tiny cup of beer” in Koreatown. She stayed past midnight. The next morning, she seems a little worn out. “I have realized how old I am,” the 31-year-old actor deadpans over Zoom from her Los Angeles home. It could also be, Levy concedes, the mere effort of a real social outing, as COVID-19 restrictions have begun winding down. Or, perhaps, it’s the emotional exhaustion of processing the cancellation of her NBC musical-comedy series, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. “This week has just been a roller coaster,” she admits.
For Levy, the news came as a shock. “When we finished [shooting] season two, I put all my stuff in storage in Canada [where the show films],” she says. “I was like, ‘Of course we’re coming back.’” She and her castmates all but knew Zoey’s would not continue at its original NBC home. (The show averaged just over 2.5 million live viewers for its second season.) Yet as propelled by critical acclaim and a likely Emmys embrace, following Levy’s breakthrough Golden Globe nomination earlier this year, signs pointed to a third-season renewal via Peacock until a late-breaking shift. “Last Friday it seemed like it was a green light,” Levy says. “And then Monday morning it was a red light.” On Wednesday, NBC confirmed Zoey’s was canceled and that Peacock would not revive it after all. (The studio behind Zoey’s, LionsgateTV, is now shopping it to other networks.)
That hit Levy hard. Indeed, a role like this doesn’t come around very often. Zoey’s follows a software developer who gains the unusual power, after an earthquake hits while she’s undergoing an MRI, of hearing the innermost thoughts of those around her—in the form of popular songs. Levy’s performance has ranked among TV’s most appealing since its 2020 debut, bright and funny and endlessly surprising. When she first landed the part, Levy had to learn how to sing and dance, and was often terrified; by the season two finale, which culminates in her swoony performance of “I Melt With You” to Skylar Astin’s love interest, it felt second nature.
Since learning of the series’ fate, Levy has reflected on her work with creator Austin Winsberg. She posed to him, “Did you have any idea that I was able to do these things that you asked me to do?” He replied that he did not. Levy didn’t think she could do all that, either—despite an already-impressive résumé that included the lead role on ABC’s acclaimed (if also prematurely canceled) sitcom Suburgatory, as well as a recent arc on Castle Rock. And so, amid ongoing awards buzz and a revival campaign (more on that in a minute), Levy feels sad, if not quite heartbroken. “Honestly, the main feeling I have is gratitude,” she says. “I feel like I did everything that I wanted to with this show. If it’s over, I don’t have any regrets. I gave it my all and so did everybody else.”
She considers, particularly, the context of the musical’s existence: It premiered in January 2020, just before the world shut down, and aired predominantly through the pandemic; its season two finale aired in May, just as we started seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. “The show and the pandemic are intrinsically linked for me,” Levy says. “Our show is about connection and empathy and community and grief. These are all the themes that we’re dealing with globally.” Shooting the second season through COVID was “tricky and scary and clunky,” but it informed the work: “My philosophy is that if the actor doesn’t have an experience, the audience won’t. Sometimes you have to go to painful places.” (Levy describes herself as an “acting nerd,” always giving great thought to how she can improve her craft—hence Thursday night’s acting class.)
Zoey’s developed a cult following of viewers who connected not just to its imaginative musical structure, but also its hopeful take on painful topics. Zoey navigates slowly losing (and in season two, finally grieving) her father to a neurological disorder. “People write to me out of nowhere and say that they were able to process their grief…through watching,” Levy says. “It has been such an amazing relationship between the people who watch it and the people who perform it.” Levy contrasts that positive dynamic with what may be taking Zoey’s place on the fall schedule: “I’m sorry, but I have to say this: I look at the new NBC lineup, and it’s like, ‘Okay, we could watch a lot of shows about crime and guns.’ Our show is about love. It’s a real shame to take that off the air…I feel like it’s the wrong move.”
Fans agree. Immediately after the cancellation news broke, they joined Winsberg—amplified by LionsgateTV—in spreading a #SaveZoeysPlaylist social media plea far and wide. It’s not the first series to have attempted this; some have succeeded, others have not. Levy wants fans to know she’s moved by the effort (“The whole reason the show exists is for you and because of you”) but has decided to step away for now. She’s still processing, and she’s afraid of getting her hopes up: “What if it doesn’t happen?… Emotionally, it’s fucking with me. This show has been so meaningful to me. I just need a moment.” She gets a little teary. “I feel so many things.”
Since, in the show, Zoey typically listens to song-ified versions of others’ thoughts, Levy tends to get fewer musical opportunities than her cast. Season two ends on a cliff-hanger that would reverse that, opening up a whole new realm of performance possibilities for Levy. She feels ready for the new challenge, should it arrive, and reads off her phone a list of singers she’d love to take on in season three and beyond—Madonna, Ariana Grande, the John Lennon version of “Jealous Guy” among them. She is not done with Zoey. But if Zoey is done with her, Levy feels changed by the role for the better. “This show and this part were pivotal for me and one of the most creatively fulfilling jobs of my career,” she says. “[This is] the kind of work that I want to be a part of: work that affects people…. And I got to do everything! Comedy, drama, singing, dancing.”