Dustin Milligan spent six seasons playing an adorkable veterinarian, who harbored a deep love for injecting puns into everyday conversation on Schitt’s Creek.
Ted Mullens didn’t always receive the same amount of fanfare as his love interest, Alexis Rose, or the rest of her wealthy, ridiculous family, but he’s gained a fan following anyway, which is why it might be surprising for some to learn that Milligan was hiding a dirty secret while filming the beloved Canadian comedy. Okay, fine, maybe “dirty” is the wrong word.
Sweaty. He was keeping a sweaty secret.
In a recent sitdown with Buzzfeed to promote his new NBC sitcom, Rutherford Falls, Milligan shared some memories from his Schitt’s Creek days. There were the usual stories about acting opposite dogs with steak-flavored treats stuffed in their diapers and meeting unofficial Canadian mascot Eugene Levy for the first time — Milligan was very relieved to learn the man is as kind and generous and funny as we all think he’d be. But the story that really stands out had to do with a very human problem that the show’s crew found hilarious ways of dealing with.
“I’m a human being and that means that I sweat sometimes,” Milligan said. “There’s a lot of scenes in Schitt’s Creek where you may not notice this, but I’ve got paper towels crammed into my armpits. Our lovely costumer on the show would have a hairdryer ready to go, so in-between takes, I’d be standing there getting my armpits blown. I think a lot of people wouldn’t have been able to spot any sort of TV movie magic going on there.”
Milligan revealed that his pesky perspiration habit disappeared in later season for some unknown reason, but that didn’t stop castmate Annie Murphy from congratulating him anytime he didn’t soak through his button-ups during hot days on set.
“There was actually a moment on a very hot day outside the motel, Annie [Murphy] turned around and was like, ‘I’m so proud of you!”‘ Milligan recalled. “And I was just like, ‘What?’ Then she pointed to my armpits and said, ‘Look at that, they’re dry!’ She was very supportive.”
Oh Ted Mullins, don’t sweat it. We still love you.