New Girl Season 2
Fans of 'New Girl' will recognise Lamorne Morris as Winston Bishop - and we have a Q&A with the actor about his role on the show, and the second season which has come to DVD.
How did you guys want to approach Season 2 of New Girl?
It's difficult coming back to play that character especially because when the show wraps you get other jobs. You get other things. You go on vacation. You're dealing with your family. You're dealing with all your different things and then you have to come back and pick up where you left off it's difficult.
I will say it does definitely take some rehearsal time to get back into that mode, that groove of what you were doing before. It's only difficult in the time aspect. Once you've gotten back into the character it's the easiest thing to do. Especially because the writers have made these characters kind of close to who we are in some aspect and when you see a character evolve over time, it's usually because the writers are getting more familiar with the person and going, let's not make this character such a stretch for him. I'd probably say the biggest stretch for a character is Schmidt because Max is a laid back dude. On set he stays energetic just because it's close to his character. When he shows up in the morning sometimes he's like, hey man, what did you do last night? I'm like, ohh, what did you do? Take care of my kid, you know, slept, then I went to the gym and crushed it and then I came here. Once he gets into the Schmidt character then he's big and broad.
What did you not want to see Winston become in Season 2?
I was just so anxious to see what he was going to become. As an actor you'll start to go, yeah I don't like that. I don't like that Winston's doing that. He’s drinking fruity drinks, huh? Okay. I mean again as an actor your down to play any character and everything is fun. Social media really makes it tricky for people sometimes because you go, oh it's awesome. I'm gonna play this character. I'm going to do this really weird thing on camera and then you go back and read all your tweets and go, mmm, well, I guess they didn't like that so much.
You did get that one gig.
I did get a job. It's similar to what I like. I'm a big sports fan, mainly basketball. We had Kareem on the show and I get to talk about sports on the radio station. We don't visit it as much as we used to on the show and I think we're going to dive back into that. I've been telling the writers my ideas for what I want Winston to become. I want Winston to become a cadet and join the force as a cop. I think there's something funny in that. My character has become a bit lame at times and to see him try to become a cop, more than anything I just would love to see that struggle. Something about him wearing a uniform and not being able to catch a perp would be great.
How do relationships deepen in Season 2?
It all goes back to real life. When you know somebody for so long you become personal with them and now I know everyone's families, they know mine, we know each other. On the show, when the writers write something I guess it’s our job to dive into that space. Again it's really easy to because we've gotten closer. Our relationships have actually gotten deeper. It’s easy to play that. The dynamic between Cece and Winston for instance, we don't see that as much and I know in Season 3 we're going to dive more into that space. We're actually shooting that right now. Hannah and I are very close off, I’m probably closer with her than anybody off camera and now they're finally going to dive into that.
Is it fun for you guys to kind of have those bursts of comic energy in between all the normal stuff?
The show is at its core a grounded show. Again like you said with hints of buffoonery. You have to have it so you can balance it out for a wider audience. You have to have those elements and I think we love it. We give each other a hard time. The weirder the character trait, the more the rest of the cast makes fun of you. Season 1, we probably wouldn't have done that because we're just getting to know each other more and now it's like you have to roll around and do that? You're an idiot and we literally laugh at each other. Again, it goes back to the whole chemistry thing and our relationships being that way.
Did Winston finally find his lady love?
Yes, Winston has found someone. The chemistry between Brenda and me is great. The chemistry there is great between us. On camera she's hilarious and she is a very talented actress.
So you guys do have a lot to offer in any given episode that we don't get to see. Is that normal for a show?
It's very normal. My first episode of Season 1, I did a basketball flashback and I shot a whole day of playing basketball, which is my favorite thing to do in the world. It was some really funny stuff. I choreographed the whole scene. I did a whole day of that, watched the cut, none of it's in there. Some of it doesn't make the show. Some of it doesn't even make the DVD behind the scenes. We have a lot of footage. We like to make the joke that we shoot so much that we can cut an episode about five different ways and it could go either way.
What did you like most about Season 2?
It's more internal. It's more that I’m comfortable now shooting a television show, literally my dream come true. I just show up to work and there's no pressure. It's your character, everybody knows their character and I just go have fun and that's my job. That's what I like most about it. We get along with the writers, the directors, everyone who comes in and we just see what happens. It usually equates to something funny, something good for the audience. I'm just happy to be in a grove right now.
If you couldn't do this for work, would you wanna do something else?
If I wasn't acting I'd be teaching acting. That would be my easiest thing to fall back on is teaching it.
'New Girl' season two is out on DVD now.
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