Stevie Budd

Biographical Information

Also Known as

The concierge girl, Average Joanne, Magdalena, Our Sally Bowles (by Moira)
The mouthy kid, The mouth, Partner (by Johnny)
The front desk girl (by Alexis)
Stevie Felmington (brief alias)
Rita Rudner (by Roland)
Karen (by Wendy)
Pillar of strength and self-healing, Marcia Clark, [Jake’s] little pony (by David)
Pony (by Jake)

Gender

Female

Occupation

Hotelier
Co-owner/desk clerk, Rosebud Motel
Flight attendant, Larry Air (briefly)

Relationships

Carl Currie (ex-uncle) †
Bree (cousin-in-law)
Sean (cousin)
Maureen Budd † (great-aunt)
Wayland (uncle)
Nana Budd (grandmother)
David Rose (best friend/ex-friend with benefits)
Jake (on again/off again boyfriend)
Grant Byers (one date)
Emir Kaplan (former fling)

Appearances

Portrayed by

Emily Hampshire

“	I'm only doing this because you called me rude. And I take that as a compliment.	”
	— Stevie^[src]

Stevie Budd is a cynical front desk clerk and employee at the Rosebud Motel, later becoming its owner. She is a main character on Schitt's Creek.

Character Description

The sardonic clerk and later owner of the motel where the Roses reside, who becomes David's best friend and briefly friend-with-benefits.

Overview

Having grown up in Schitt's Creek, Stevie knows far too much about its inhabitants, and the Roses (particularly David) offer a refreshing change from tailgate parties and cow-tipping townies. Stevie is somewhat rude, but she finds that as flattery. She would prefer to spend her days goofing off with David instead of doing any real work, but after the death of her great-aunt Maureen drops some major new responsibilities into her lap, Stevie must decide if she’s really ready to grow up and take charge of the family business: the Schitt's Creek Motel.

With the apparent success of the motel and the new responsibilities thrust upon her, Stevie steps up and shows her drive and dedication. Stevie is, however, not accustomed to the quick changes that come with improving the motel, like developing marketing and publicity strategies, or even a functioning website, but with Johnny as a new reassuring business partner, she feels supported and determined, and is slowly becoming part of the Rose family.

In season five, Stevie starts questioning her own future for the first time. She reluctantly decides to push her personal boundaries, but quickly sees why leaving one’s comfort zone is difficult. When Moira surprises Stevie by presenting the opportunity to work together on Cabaret, Stevie does the most un-Stevie thing, and says yes.

After a time of questioning her life decisions and career path, she ultimately decides to keep working with Johnny and Roland to build the Rosebud Motel Group. Her future role within the group requires her to have a home base in Schitt's Creek while traveling around the country to open new Rosebud Motel locations.

After David asks her why she's staying in Schitt's Creek after talking about living and working elsewhere, Stevie explains that she didn't want to move to a big city like New York, she just wanted to know that she could.

Character

Stevie is usually presented in a mid-90's 'grunge' look, wearing flannel shirts, canvas tennis shoes, and worn-looking jeans. Her mid-length dark hair is usually worn down. As the character further develops in later seasons, Stevie is often seen in more conventional business attire, but doesn't deviate much from her initial wardrobe. She lives in a modest studio apartment and drives a well-worn used Ford Focus station wagon.

Personality

Until she meets a kindred spirit in David, Stevie was, by nature, aloof, introverted, had few friends, and disliked social interaction. Stevie is also cynical, often mocks the Roses and tends to believe the worst will happen. She gets a little more optimistic as the series progresses, however. Stevie is also a tomboy, but she's beautiful in part thanks to her striking coloring and cleans up nicely when she needs to: On the rare occasions when Stevie dresses up, she turns everyone's head, including David's. And in her darkest moments Stevie tends to suffer from low self-esteem and a lack of self confidence, viewing herself as lesser than the cultured Roses. David, Moira, and Johnny all take over at these moments to reassure her. Stevie is highly insecure about her romantic prospects and lack of professional success due to fear of ending up like her aunt and her numerous romantic rejections in life.

Though she's downplayed by most, she's very smart and witty and she and Johnny form a good team when they take over the motel. Stevie is also the townsperson of Schitt's Creek who takes the Roses, especially David and Johnny, under her wing and brings them back closer to earth.