Dan Levy Sets Record Straight on That SNL Dressing Room Note Trend — and Who Inspired Him to Do It

Rosalind O'Connor/NBC Dan Levy

Dan Levy recently made headlines for an act of kindness on Saturday Night Live.

But the Happiest Season actor, 37, set the record straight in an interview with Today about what inspired the sweet note he left in the show's dressing room last month for Regina King, 50, who hosted the week after Levy made his SNL debut.

"I feel the need to clarify this… I didn't start (the tradition). I kind of continued it," he told the outlet, explaining that a note Woody Harrelson had left for Phoebe Waller-Bridge during season 45 in 2019 gave him the idea.

Regina King/Instagram

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Rege-Jean Page / Instagram

"So I asked if I could leave a note for Regina because the process is such a strange experience. Strange, wonderful and intimidating experience that like, a little note from the person that had just done it felt like such a sweet vote of confidence," Levy recalled.

"Regina! You got this! Much Love, Dan," the Schitt's Creek star wrote in his note, which King shared to her Instagram Story at the time. "Awww. You're the best @instadanjlevy You crushed it!" she captioned the photo.

King subsequently continued the tradition, leaving a note for Bridgerton star Regé-Jean Page, who left one for the last episode's host Nick Jonas. SNL alum Maya Rudolph returns to host this weekend, along with musical guest Jack Harlow.

Nick Jonas / Instagram

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Comedy veteran father Eugene Levy, 74, also made an appearance during the opening monologue of his son Dan's episode, which featured musical guest Phoebe Bridgers.

"I think what I learned from him, just from a comedy standpoint, is that … there's so much generosity, I think, to great comedy," he told Today of his dad, with whom he co-created and costarred in Schitt's Creek. "You have to just give people space. There's just such a joy in knowing that you have each other's back."

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They earned a combined six Emmy Awards for playing father and son on the beloved Canadian sitcom, which aired its sixth and final season last year, also starring Eugene's longtime friend and collaborator Catherine O'Hara.

Dan spoke to PEOPLE last year about a potential Schitt's Creek movie, explaining that the "dust needs to settle" before they would reunite, but he didn't rule it out, "I don't think there's a single person on our team, cast or crew, that wouldn't want to come back for a movie."

Will Heath/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images/ Eugene and Dan Levy

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Pop TV Schitt's Creek

"But at the same time, I think the success of the show really was tied so closely to the care that was put into it and the quality that was put into it," he said. "If I can come up with an idea that I think builds on what we've already done in a way that feels good and exciting and new and fresh and challenges our actors, then great. I go to sleep willing that idea to come to me."

The former MTV Canada host added, "It's always good for people to miss you before you come back with something. So I think we're going to let some time pass. And in that time, hopefully, I'll get a little inkling of desire to start exploring more seriously."