Award-winning actress Annie Murphy has travelled all over the world thanks to her job. Annie was born and raised in Ottawa but now lives in Toronto. After finishing a successful stint on the Canadian show Schitt’s Creek, Annie has starred in a number of international projects including an infamous episode of the tech-thriller Black Mirror. We recently sat down with Annie to chat about her favourite on-set snacks and Canadian restaurants. From dill-pickle chips to comforting Polish food and which Canadian snacks she introduces to her out-of-town friends, we covered it all.
We also chatted about Annie Murphy’s new Crispy Minis campaign where she prepares to travel somewhere out of this world — the moon. After the success of her first Crispy Minis campaign last year, the team knew they had to develop something otherworldly to top it. And we certainly think they did. In the new advertisement, Annie Murphy is inspired by the fact that Crispy Minis can be both gluten-free rice cakes yet delicious and crispy. She decides that she can do it all as well. So she starts training to be an astronaut as well as an actress. She goes through all the testing and training needed to be sent into space, including an anti-gravity test and, of course, a slow-motion walk out to the spaceship. Read on to see how Annie feels to be back for another Crispy Minis campaign plus what snacks she would bring on her trip to the moon.
How does it feel to be back for another Crispy Minis campaign?
“It feels so great. It’s such a fun group of people that I get to work with and the concept is really fun. I’ve never dangled from ropes pretending to be an astronaut before so that’s going to be a bucket list check-off. And [we’re] working with [director] Jordan Canning, who directed a bunch of Schitt’s Creek. So she’s a dear friend. It’s like bringing the band back together a little bit. It’s fun!”
You get to be an actress, an astronaut and travel to the moon in this campaign. If you could only bring three foods and drinks to the moon, what would you bring?
“Well a sack of Crispy Minis, obviously. Like a Santa Claus sack. Which I think counts as one, because I need all the assorted flavours. And then I would bring a full charcuterie board. Like a really lovely, charcuterie board. A large one [with] many different cheeses, an assortment of meats, nice olives, and a little honeycomb. And a big ol’ pizza! Drink wise, definitely water. You have to stay really hydrated up there. I don’t want to meet my maker on the moon! Maybe a beer, but I don’t know how that would impact my abilities… It’s a nice little treat for cheat day. And then you know what? I’m just going to double down on the water. Maybe a sparkling water. A Bubly!”
What’s your favourite Crispy Minis flavour to snack on while on set?
“I’m a real dill picklehead. Whether it’s Lays [or Crispy Minis]. I actually crushed a bag of Lays dill pickle chips last night. So I think dill pickle is where I kind of have to sit.”
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Are you a fan of actual dill pickles or just the pickle flavour?
“I love dill pickles! I’ve been in Germany for the last six months and I associated Germany with pickles to some degree. And they are a pickle country! But they’re not a dill-pickle country. They’re like a cornichon or Gherkin country. And that just doesn’t hit the spot. It’s not the same.”
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What was your favourite thing that you ate while you were in Germany?
“I was so excited to kind of schnitzel and sausage my way through six months. And I really committed to it for about a week and loved every single minute. Then day eight arrived, and I was like, I need to stop, and I need to eat a green, or I will pass away in this country. The other thing with Germany is that I’ll say I need something to wash [my food] down. And they’re like, ‘how about this massive mug of beer?’ And I’m like,’ all right, I guess!’ It’s basically like water to them. I’m back in the land of kale and green juice which feels amazing.”
Now that you’re back in Canada, when people from out of town come to visit you, what’s the first Canadian food that you show them?
“Well, if we’re staying in the Crispy Minis chip realm, something that blows people’s minds is ketchup chips. That rocks people’s worlds! Another one is poutine. I’ve genuinely been craving it for months and months now. That’s always another really beautiful eye-opener for people even though it’s so simple. In the UK they have chips and gravy all the time. But they miss the essential ingredient which is the cheese curd.”
What are your favourite restaurants in Canada?
“I love so many places. In Montreal, I love Garde Manger, which is actually owned by Tim Rozon who played Mutt on Schitt’s Creek. In Ottawa, Colonnade for pizza. Every time I go visit my folks, on the first night, we get a Colonnade pizza. In Toronto, I love Mother India. I also love Cafe Polonez. It’s Polish and old school, nothing fancy at all, but real Polish food and just mountains of it. Like perogies, sausages, schnitzel and borscht. It’s very comforting.”
This interview has been edited and condensed.