In the current television landscape, it’s becoming increasingly rare for a show to get a second season, let alone the 11 critically acclaimed seasons that Letterkenny has delivered to its fans.
The award-winning Canadian sitcom about the residents of a fictional town in rural Ontario chronicles the interactions between the town’s various cliques – known informally as the hicks, skids, hockey players, natives and epees – amid a steady stream of lively dialogue, ham-fisted brawls, Canadian slang and even the occasional dance break.
While series creator Jared Keeso’s character, Wayne, is said to lead the show’s cast, two of Letterkenny’s breakout stars are two drug-dealing goths whose criminal adventures have taken them to the big city and back over the course of the show’s run. Played by Tyler Johnston and Evan Stern, respectively, “Skids” ringleaders Stewart and Roald have become fan-favorite characters (and popular fan-fiction themes) as their relationship has evolved with each season.
With Letterkenny Season 11 now available to stream on Hulu, Digital Trends spoke to Johnston and Stern about the duo’s evolving partnership, fan recognition, streaming on Twitch and the Letterkenny Live experience.
Digital Trends: Stewart and Roald’s relationship has evolved quite a bit since the early seasons. How would you describe your dynamic today?
Eve Stern: Best friends for sure. And maybe… lovers?
Tyler Johnston: Are we still talking about Roald and Stewart?
Star: I’d say we went from a more controlling and submissive dynamic to something more, well… Tyler has actually noticed it the last few seasons. He opined, “I don’t like how much independence Roald has now!” There was definitely a little arc where Roald gets a little bit more, well… shall we call it power?
Johnston: yes it has changed And I think in Stewart’s case, he realized that close… friends… like Roald don’t come around every day.
Star: Certainly almost never.
Johnston: I think Stewart has come to appreciate his… friend… Roald more and more.
Star: You keep saying “friend” but I think you’re looking for a different word here.
I appreciate the very clear quotation marks around “friend” every time you both say it.
Star: Yeah, it’s always like, “We’re… friends?”
Some of my favorite moments on the show are when everyone comes together for a common cause. How are these moments by your side?
Johnston: They don’t want us in the room anymore. They put duct tape on!
Star: All the people in the cast are amazing to work with. When you walk in and see 10 of your best friends in a room and they’re like, “All right, everyone, let’s get to work,” you’re like, “Okay, sure!” It just feels good.
Johnston: It’s really, really fun. It’s like a Royal Rumble sometimes. You put all the characters in a room and release them. We’re all professionals, but some of us try to make each other laugh. These are usually really great days, but Jacob [Tierney, series co-writer and director] and our assistant director usually has to calm us down pretty much all the time.
Star: Yes, that’s fair… We got barked at a couple of times.
Letterkenny has such a wonderful fandom. What was the point at which you realized this was something special — that you were part of a show where people would be quoting you everywhere you went?
Star: I was walking home one night after a few drinks and these two guys from Ireland picked me up and started carrying me like I was sitting on a chair and they said, “We love Letterkenny!” I was like, “That is wild.” I didn’t know who these guys were, but it was like, “Oh wow, we touched Ireland.” That was definitely a moment for me.
That could have gone differently. I’m glad it worked!
Star: To the right?!
Johnston: Like, “I was drinking and these guys grabbed me and carried me away…”
Star: You picked me up so easily! I mean I know I’m short but wow!
Johnston: There were a few moments in this Letterkenny journey for me. One was during the early seasons when Dylan [Playfair] and Andrew [Herr] featured consistently in Canadian television commercials between hockey and soccer games. You couldn’t get away from seeing Andrew and Dylan [who play] Reilly and Jonesy, everywhere.
Another moment was when I was walking to the airport here in Vancouver and there was a Letterkenny commercial running on a big billboard at the airport. That was really cool, and then of course when the Hulu sale happened, it took the whole thing to the next level.
Star: We’ve gone international, baby!
Johnston: Much like Evan, I was actually in Edinburgh [Scotland] with Andrew, and a bartender at this bar we were at didn’t recognize me but recognized Andrew. He says, “Are you that guy from Letterkenny?” Andrew said, “You know about the show?” He said, “Yeah, my roommates here introduced me to the show and we all love it.” Andrew and I had to get the drinks still pay, but …
Star: …so overall it was a horrible experience.
Johnston: Yes totally. But no, really, it ended up being a pretty cool experience.
I guess without the wig and you probably don’t get recognized that much, Tyler?
Johnston: Not as much as some of our other actors, no.
Star: Yes, you fly under the radar. I was surprised you wanted to cut your hair in that one episode where you got to show off your actual face shape!
Where do you hope to see Roald and Stewart go in future seasons? What scenarios would you like to see the Skids explore?
Star: I’d love to see Roald and Stewart do something of their own in town at some point and go into that town lot a little bit more just to see why the town was so dangerous and why the town is so bad for them. I feel like there are a lot of ways to explore that. We got a little bit of that a few seasons ago with the drug dealer and how dangerous that can get [party drug] GHB and all that stuff but I think we can get a little bit more…
Johnston: He wants more danger!
Star: I want more danger. I want a little more danger!
Johnston: I think they should become accountants and try to calm down and crack numbers. You’ll start to think, “Oh my god, the runners have really settled in and are relaxed. You have a decent job!”
Star: And then… tax evasion!
Johnston: money laundering!
Star: Organised crime!
This feels very Breaking Bad…
Star: Well, better, obviously…
Evan, you’ve been streaming a lot on Twitch lately. I saw that you played and streamed live during the Letterkenny tour. How is the Twitch experience for you and what are you currently playing?
Star: Here’s the thing: Tyler really is my biggest fan. Every time I do a Twitch stream, I see the little “tylerjbjohnston” tag appear in the chat. It’s always like, “Hey, buddy! What’s up buddy?”
Johnston: I say: “I love you! I support you!”
Star: And then I mute my phone. … But I love Twitch. I love the opportunity to connect with fans on a one-to-one basis because they come in and we have conversations. We can play games together! We’re playing a lot of Valorant right now. It’s a first-person shooter, and it’s beautiful. And yes, Tyler is so supportive of this and it warms my heart to see my co-worker come in to say hello occasionally…
Johnston: Employees? Or… friend?
Star: I agree. I tried to convince him to join Twitch and play with me. And I think, I think he’s close. I think we almost got him.
Johnston: what games do you play rick
I’m still catching up on a lot of games. I just got a Playstation 5.
Star: Oh congratulations!
Johnston: Happy! Finally got my hands on one!
When I got back to the Letterkenny Live tour I was able to see one of the shows and it was such a fun experience. What was it like doing a live version of the series for both of you?
Star: Which Letterkenny Live Show Were You?
The ones in Albany, New York. You weren’t really there, Evan. I think you were under the weather.
Johnston: That was probably a bang.
Star: I heard one sucks.
It was great, but you were missed, Evan. How was the live tour?
Johnston: I’d give it a 25 out of 10, Rick. There is so much energy when you go on stage. I don’t do stand up comedy, but I imagine stepping onto a stage and knowing that people will laugh at anything you say, no matter what you say, is a pretty reassuring feeling. And it was very special to be able to personally share the energy of this great show with our fans.
Star: Yes it was great. One thing we could also share with each other was going around on the bus. I was sure I would get so fed up with these people. I was preparing to say, “Well, I won’t speak to Tyler for a year after that.” But after the tour we were closer than ever. It was really a very nice experience.
All 11 seasons of Letterkenny are available now on the Hulu streaming service.
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