From ‘Schitt’s Creek’ Fan to Viral TikTok Sensation: Michael Judson Berry

Growing up in Syracuse, New York, Michael Judson Berry began his acting career at the age of six after landing his first comedic role as a Prince in a local production of The King and I. Since then, he has come a long way.

Following his dreams and passion for storytelling, Berry received a BFA in Theatre Arts from Boston University and an MA in Classical Acting from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He has traveled the country as Patsy in the National Tour of Monty Python’s Spamalot, worked extensively with casting agencies for TV and film, and recently completed his first feature film, Milkwater.

Like millions of others, Berry needed to find something to do while stuck in quarantine. The COVID-19 pandemic brought so much sadness and uncertainty, so he decided to project some happiness into the world by putting his comedic acting skills on TikTok. Great at impressions, his hilarious impersonation of Schitt’s Creek character Moira Rose quickly went viral throughout social media. Like, holy schitt. It’s that good!

Berry created “QuaranTeaTime with Moira Rose,” and the show has millions of views and followers to date. Not only does he write and perform skits in various outfits and wigs, but he also includes cameos of the entire cast. Even Catherine O’Hara, the real Moira Rose, caught wind of Berry’s skits and praised him for his work.

OUT FRONT had the opportunity to chat more with Berry about impersonating Moira, the work that goes into an episode, why people should watch Schitt’s Creek, and future career goals he would like to accomplish.Hi, Michael! Thank you for taking some time to chat with me. You have been going viral and gaining attraction for your impersonation of Schitt’s Creek character Moira Rose. Can you tell us how that began?
I have always done fun voices, impressions, and accents ever since I was a little kid. It was like how I would bother my poor family at the dinner table. My friends and I are all huge Schitt’s Creek fans, and we would all sit around and do the voices. I just consistently heard that I did Moira well, and I did it at an improv jam at The PIT where I played Moira as if she was the manager of a Sephora. It was a ridiculous scene, and this was right before quarantine. So, that was when I was like, apparently, I do Moira pretty well.

I was just looking for something to do during quarantine, and she is always drinking tea, so the QuaranTeaTime name came to me. It was mostly an inside joke with my friends, but I was like, I’ll make little videos as if you are having tea with Moira. Then every couple of days, she will address a different trail or tribulation that we are all dealing with in quarantine and try to spin it, strangely in a positive way. Like a gentle reminder to love yourself and remember to keep up hope. I feel like Schitt’s Creek is that for a lot of us. It is sort of this lovely escape. So, I thought maybe I can be that for my 10 friends that will watch this.

And now you have like a million friends watching this.
Yes, I have made so many new friends all over the world!

How much prep work goes into making an episode of “QuaranTeaTime with Moira Rose?”
It really depends. Sometimes a very fun idea will pop into my head and I can write it out, and I will have it done in 20 minutes. Pop the wig on my head and the whole start to finish process will take like half an hour. Then, there are those days when it’s like, I thought I had a funny idea, and then I will start to film it but sit in front of my phone for two hours trying to make something work. So, it depends, and there are some that I do with multiple characters, especially the family. Since I have gotten more followers, I am so much more persnickety now. I think one of them took me like four hours. I was editing the shoe flipping one where I transition from one to next. Like, must get shoe right!

Where do you find all the different wigs and outfits for these characters?
I have slowly been accumulating more and more. I started originally with my roommate who had a few wigs from previous Halloween costumes. I remember after the first one, they were like in a pile at the bottom of this closet, and after I did the first video, a friend of mine who does drag reached out. He was like, Michael, you have to brush your hair, and maybe get a decent wig if you are going to do this. Now there is this great wig store called BSW Beauty. There is a location up in Syracuse where I am from, and whenever I go to visit my parents, I stop by there. They are very sweet and have given me a few wigs at this point. I think I am up to about 20 wigs that were either given or bought.

How often do you post videos?
I try to do at least three per week. Then I try to switch them up between doing fun TikTok challenges as Moira, Moira interviewing a different celebrity that I will play, and then regular tea time where it’s just me trying to say uplifting things into a camera.Besides TikTok, you are on other social media platforms?
Yes. The TikTok ones are a little bit shorter since they can only be 59 seconds. I tend to ramble, so the ones on Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter are usually the full, if you will, episodes.

You even caught the eye of Catherine O’Hara, the real Moira Rose. How did that feel?
Oh my God, there is no better praise. I have never gotten a better review, and I probably won’t get a better review. I have been a huge fan of Catherine O’Hara since well before Schitt’s Creek. I remember having many nights going down some serious SCTV YouTube rabbit holes, and of course Beetlejuice, Home Alone, and all the Christopher Guest films. I have loved her forever, so to have her say that not only was my impression good, but that my writing is funny, I am over the moon. I am pretty sure I fell over and blacked out.

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What other impersonations are you well-known for?
I don’t know. I have just always done all kinds of ridiculous voices to crack up friends. I am that person who friends will say, do an impression of me. I am pretty good at imitating, so I am like that guy who will do impressions of friends when we are out at a bar or something. My go to is, I do an annoying English guy so I will slip into an English accent, which people find amusing, or they are asking me to stop. I also love old movies, so I do Katharine Hepburn, Liza Minelli, Judy Garland, all those classic ladies. Although, I have never done Cher until QuaranTeaTime. That was when it hit me, how have I never even attempted to do a Cher impression?

What is the most challenging part of impersonating Moira?
I think the most challenging part is also the most fun part. Finding the vocabulary. Obviously, her vocabulary is very impressive, flora, superfluous, all those things on the show, and I feel that is such an important part of the character. So, my thesaurus app has become my best friend. Just finding the appropriate, ridiculous words to try and slip them in, and then trying to figure out how to pronounce them correctly with her accent is also quite a challenge. Again, a very fun challenge.

Which Moira Rose look is your favorite?
I love the look when she is back in the press again because people think she died. She is going to emerge and spends the whole day trying to pick out the perfect look, and then she comes out with the big curly hair and that Grim Reaper like black leather dress. I don’t know why, I thought that look was so funny. That is one that always pops into my head. As for wigs, I just love whenever she wore a wig almost like a hat over her normal hair. Like, her normal hair is sticking out and she just has a wig stuck on the back of her head. I think that is so funny.For someone who has never watched Schitt’s Creek, why would you advise them to do so?
Considering everything that is going on in the world right now, Schitt’s Creek gives you this beautiful little world that I feel is kinder, softer, and more beautiful than the world that we are currently in. These characters, even though everyone is very over the top, they are very grounded and relatable. I feel like all of us will see a little bit of ourselves reflected in at least one of these people, and watching them all grow and change in a beautiful way is very comforting.

Now that the series is over, without spoilers, what were your final thoughts?
I loved it. Obviously, I was so sad when it ended just because it feels like a little safe haven. You go and spend time with these lovely people, so I was really sad when it was over, but I love that they ended it on their own terms. I think it was a beautiful ending. Everyone who worked on that show is a genius.

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What do you hope social media followers take away from your content?
My hope is that it gives them a little giggle, but also that there are little reminders to be kinder to yourself. That is usually the message. Even though Moira does not always seem to be that way in the show, I think her heart is as big as her vocabulary. Hopefully, that is what people take away. They became little reminders for me, to be kinder to myself and to love myself. I did a birthday one when it was actually my birthday, and I was like, felicitations to me, but even if it isn’t your birthday, take a moment to celebrate yourself.

Has acting and storytelling always been your passion?
Yes. Maybe I just had high needs for attention [laughs]. I was a very energetic child, so my parents had me in all kinds of sports, but theatre, and musical theatre especially, was where I really found my groove. I love improv and comedy, and I just love making people laugh. Telling stories has always been a passion, so when it came time to look at colleges or career wise, there was no question. Like, this is what I am doing.

You completed your first feature film, Milkwater, earlier this year. Can you tell us more about that?
It was really fun, and that actually has a Schitt’s Creek background too. One of those wonderful moments where it was sort of last minute. It had another actor who scheduling wise could not make it, so I got the script at 9:00 a.m. and had to have a self-tape in by noon. I didn’t have time to read the script because I had to work that day too, so I read the notes and I was like, I don’t know, they seem kind of funny and this character feels like if Alexis was a gay man living in New York. So, I did this vague Alexis impersonation as this character Teddy, and then found out later that afternoon that I booked the film. I was on set very soon thereafter. Of course, the movie is a bit more of a drama, and the director was like, your take was very different from everyone else’s. Your choices were so interesting. Well, they probably read the script.

It was a fun experience, and it is about this young woman who is sort of looking for meaning in her life. She feels a bit lost, and she agrees to be a surrogate for this older gay man that she meets at a bar. It is a very quick decision, and you follow her over the course of the pregnancy and how much she learns about herself over the course of that process, through him, and all the other people in her life. It is a lovely story about her really coming into her own. I play her best friend’s boyfriend, and she is played by Molly Bernard who is wonderful, and her best friend is played by Robin de Jesus who was just in Boys in the Band. So, getting to play opposite the two of them was very fun, and I ended up getting more and more scenes the longer I was there.What are some future goals you would like to achieve? You would like to be on SNL at some point?
Oh, yes. That would be wonderful. I love to play goofy characters, so SNL would be a dream. Before quarantine started, I knew very little about social media, so this whole thing has been this giant learning process. Especially considering everything with the pandemic, it is hard to say what is going to happen next. I am just trying to enjoy each moment as it comes, but if more TV and film work comes out of this, that would be amazing. And if someone from SNL is watching, then hello! Please hire me!

Before we wrap up, are there any other upcoming projects we should be on the lookout for?
I just started creating a web series with a friend of mine who is an actor in London. He is in the West End production of Come From Away, and he was looking for something to do too. So, we just started the process of that, but as of now, that is just a little baby idea that will hopefully come about. Other than that, I will continue making these QuaranTeaTime videos and see what happens.

Follow Berry on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube for “QuaranTeaTime with Moira Rose” episodes, and check out his official website for the latest news and updates.

Photos Courtesy of Michael Judson Berry & Ryan Baker