Eugene Levy reveals the unexpected word his grandson loves to say. ‘He went through a phase’

Eugene Levy is enjoying his transition into grandparenthood. 

The 78-year-old “Schitt’s Creek” and “American Pie” actor shares two children — Dan Levy, 42, and Sarah Levy, 39 — with his wife Deborah Divine, whom he has been married to since 1977, per People. 

But now that Eugene Levy’s kids are all grown up, he’s entering a new phase of family life. 

The four-time Emmy winner became a grandfather in July 2022 when his daughter welcomed her first child with husband Graham Outerbridge — a baby boy named James, per E! News. 

During a Sept. 9 appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Eugene Levy shared one of the cutest stories about his 3-year-old grandson James. 

“He’s getting cuter by the day," Levy told host Stephen Colbert. "He went through a phase recently where he would start every sentence with the word ‘unfortunately.’”

Levy joked that his grandson doesn’t know what the word means and doesn’t say it to be funny — but rather to sound smart. 

“What are you eating, James?” Eugene Levy said, to which his grandson would reply, "Unfortunately, an apple.” 

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Colbert theorized that someone in the house must be saying the word often, but Eugene Levy joked that it wasn’t coming from him because “it’s too big a word” for him. 

As far as what Eugene Levy likes to be called as a grandfather, the “Best In Show” actor goes by “Papa” — and his wife goes by “Nanny.” 

Other popular names for grandparents include Mawmaw and Pawpaw, Grammie and Grampie, or Gigi and Pop Pop. 

Eugene Levy dishes on his favorite part about grandparenthood

Elsewhere in the interview, Eugene Levy opened up about the difference between parenthood and grandparenthood. 

“When you’re raising your own kids, you just — of course — you cannot love them more. But it’s hard work to raise a kid,” he says of being a parent. 

“With a grandchild, it’s just fun and games,” he added. 

“If things go south behavior-wise, you know, it’s somebody else’s problem,” he joked. “The grand folks are moving on.”

Eugene Levy’s take on being a grandparent is vastly different from his mindset as a parent. 

In a 2019 interview with People, the father of two admitted that he was a strict parent who wasn’t afraid to ground his son when he started acting up. 

“The thing was for us, if you crossed the line, there was going to be some sort of punishment. It’s the way I was brought up, and it’s the way I brought up my kids,” he told the outlet. 

“It worked! Because honestly we’ve never had a problem with our kids. It was fun as they got older, because then they’d start making us laugh,” he added of his earlier parenting days. 

Eugene Levy and his two kids famously starred together in the sitcom “Schitt’s Creek,” which was co-created by the father-son duo, per IMDB. 

Dan Levy and his father also co-hosted the 2024 Primetime Emmy Awards together — a “once in a lifetime” opportunity, as Eugene Levy described it to Colbert. 

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Also in 2024, Eugene Levy was joined by his family — including grandson James — as he received the 2,773rd star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.