Zooey Deschanel said Jake Johnson and Max Greenfield helped her fight to cast Lamorne Morris as Winston Bishop on New Girl. She said she saw the fit early, but the role still needed multiple cast members to press the case with studio and network contacts.
Deschanel saw Winston early
“What about Lamorne? That guy's so good. He's so talented,” Deschanel recalled saying as the audition process unfolded. She also said, “I was like, I can't see anybody else playing this part and I know they're going to see it eventually.”
Deschanel said she was already reading with every single person who came in for Winston, which put her in the room for each comparison the production made. That kind of involvement gave her a direct view of who could carry the part and how quickly the ensemble was taking shape.
Jake Johnson and Max Greenfield
Jake Johnson and Max Greenfield were cast very quickly, while Lamorne Morris needed advocacy. Deschanel said the three of them wrote to different people to make the case, including a note from her to the heads of the studio and the network and one from Johnson to Jake Kasdan.
“Just putting my two cents in, we think Lamorne is best for this character and such a great addition,” Deschanel said of the message they sent. That is the kind of internal push that can decide whether a role stays open long enough for the right actor to land it.
Damon Wayans and Cece
Deschanel also said Hannah Simone was the only person who came in and played Cece as smart and deadpan. “Hannah had come in and I loved Hannah,” she said. “She was the only one who came in and was kind of deadpan and wasn't trying to play Cece as kind of ditzy.”
She added, “That's who we need.” Before Morris entered the final mix, Damon Wayans had played Coach in the pilot, and Deschanel said another round of people came in for Winston after Wayans left for Happy Endings.
Winston Bishop got the slot
Lamorne Morris ultimately landed Winston Bishop and stayed with New Girl through the series' conclusion. Deschanel’s account shows how the final lineup was not just a matter of auditions but of active lobbying from the people already inside the show.
That matters because it explains why Winston felt settled once the series moved forward: the role was not left to drift, and the cast made a deliberate choice to lock in the actor they thought fit best. Morris later cohosted The Mess Around With Hannah and Lamorne with Hannah Simone, a tidy reminder that the pairing Deschanel fought for ended up carrying well beyond the sitcom itself.
