Zooey Deschanel thought she was being pranked when she was told Prince wanted to appear in 'New Girl'.
Zooey Deschanel thought she was being pranked when Prince got in touch via his manager to ask for a 'New Girl' cameo.
The 42-year-old actress - who starred as teacher Jessica 'Jess' Day in the hit US show - didn't believe it when she was told via the late music legend's manager that he was a huge fan and asked to make a cameo appearance.
The 'Raspberry Beret' hitmaker and the 'Almost Famous' star ended up duetting on 'Fallinlove2nite' on an episode in 2014, two years before his death in April 2016, from an accidental overdose.
The duet even ended up getting released as a single, much to the surprise of Zooey.
In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, she said: "Oh my God. I don’t know. I know he watched 'New Girl' on the tour bus. When he contacted me through his manager, I thought someone was pranking me and I asked my agents: 'Can you find out if this is really Prince’s manager?' I recorded the song for the show, but when he said they would put it out I was like: 'What? A single with Prince?!' It was a pinch-myself moment."
Elsewhere in the interview, the 'Elf' star branded the "manic pixie dream girl" label she's been dealt inaccurate and accused those who use it of trying to make women "one-dimensional".
She said: "I don’t feel it’s accurate. I’m not a girl. I’m a woman. It doesn’t hurt my feelings, but it’s a way of making a woman one-dimensional and I’m not one-dimensional."
Asked if she gets fewer roles and if the #MeToo pandemic has improved equality in Hollywood, she replied: "I think the tendency is still to make women one-dimensional, so you have to add dimension, if you can. The more screen time a female character gets, the more space there is to show complexities, but there has been a shift, so I’m optimistic."
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