Zooey Deschanel is widely recognized for her deadpan comedy roles but the actress expanded her portfolio by working in dramatic roles with projects like Manic (2001), All the Real Girls (2003), and The Driftless Area (2015). However, portraying the role of Jess Day on the Fox sitcom, New Girl was what fans usually remember her by, since she was one of the lead cast, who was there from the beginning to the end of the series.
Zooey Deschanel Reflects on Her Time in New Girl
During a recent interview with Lewis Howes, she delves into the personal side of her story, giving an insight into the challenges of her career in Hollywood.
While talking about working on her renowned role of Jess Day on New Girl, she shared how she had to prioritize her health, particularly sleep, as the actors were working incredibly hard to film for long hours on set.
She shared,
“Sleep is so important…Our first like three seasons…we just like working so and just spending so many hours on set.”
She added,
“It’s like and I got into like horseback riding at that time. I like spending out…would take like all these vitamins To help with my like make sure that I didn’t get sick.”
Zooey Deschanel admitted that the cast members were “all so tired” due to long shoots, with a season taking roughly “eight months” in production.
She added,
“I mean we all spent more time around our cast mates, our crew than we did around her families.”
Other than that, she also had to perform her mother’s duties rather than just acting as she revealed, “I had both my kids while I was on the show.” Her role eventually became one of the fan favorites in the series, with the actress receiving a Primetime Emmy Award and three Golden Globe Awards nods.
New Girl Took Years to Find its Footing!
Released in 2011, the sitcom managed to find a devoted fan base, cementing its place as one of the best TV sitcoms. Since the show was unable to get acclaim instantly when it aired initially, it failed to strengthen its place for years before eventually getting acclaim from critics and viewers alike.
Several problems contributed to the consequence, with one being the title itself. While Season 1 heavily focused on Deschanel’s character, Jess, it began to change after Nick, Schmidt, Winston, and Cece became fan-favorite characters. With more screen time, the show started to shift its focus to other characters, making the series different from what its title initially intended.
Even show star, Jake Johnson looked back at the show’s rocky trajectory as he discussed in The Big Picture stating,
“And then all we heard week-to-week was how we were hemorrhaging numbers. And then, by then, we all knew how to look at the ratings, and that was, you know, pre-streaming, it would just drop and drop. And a certain number we thought, ‘If you get there, it’s over,’ we would get below. And then we had another year, they’d give us another chance, and Fox really tried. But we were cancelled.”
He continued,
“Fox was really cool and said like, ‘We agree and we’ve loved the show.’ But it wasn’t a loved show. And then, it finished, and whatever. And then a whole new generation found it on Netflix, and they adopted it as their own.”
However, the sitcom was unable to captivate a strong fanbase in the initial seasons, leaving the show’s rating to dip. However, it resurged in popularity after getting its place on the streaming platform, making its place among the top.
New Girl is streaming on Peacock.
