13 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About New Girl

New Girl recently aired its 100th episode, which included the return (finally) of the show’s title character after being absent for several episodes. The show did a remarkable job working around Zooey Deschanel’s absence, which actually allowed the other characters to shine a little more than usual.

Still, it’s nice to have Jess back on our screens, and to do a little celebrating of our own, we’ve put together a list of fun facts you probably didn’t know about New Girl.

1. Initially, Amanda Bynes was considered for the role of Jess. Can you imagine how different New Girl would be without Zooey Deschanel?

2. Jerrod Carmichael was originally offered the part of Winston, but he turned down the role to focus on his stand-up career.

3. The show was almost titled Chicks and Dicks, but as the script developed, it was eventually changed to New Girl.

4. Zooey Deschanel was in the process of developing an HBO show when she was approached about New Girl. After reading the script, she knew this was a show she had to be a part of. “I read the script, and just fell in love with the character, and the writing. It was all about the writing. It was very obvious to me that it was something I couldn’t turn down. It was too good.”

5. Hannah Simone, who plays CeCe, was actually a model in real life. She started modeling at the age of 13.

6. Jake Johnson was asked by the network to lose 15 pounds for the role of Nick Miller.

7. Daman Wayans Jr. took the role of Coach because he was expecting his current series, Happy Endings, to be canceled. When it was renewed for a second season, he became unavailable for New Girl.

8. Lamorne Morris also read for the role of Coach, but then become unavailable for the role. Luckily, he was available later after Daman Wayans Jr. had to be written out.

9. The actors are often given the chance to improv scenes. In fact, Lamorne Morris noted that about 20 percent of each episode is improv.

10. Max Greenfield and Jake Johnson auditioned together and became fast friends through the audition process. That definitely shows!

11. In Season 1, Zooey Deschanel and Jake Johnson were asked to have as little physical contact as possible, because their chemistry was distracting.

12. Filming began for Season 5 immediately after Season 4 was finished — before they received news of an official renewal. This was to accommodate Zooey Deschanel’s pregnancy, since there were no plans to write that into the series.

13. The show also coped with Deschanel’s pregnancy by having her character sequestered for jury duty. Megan Fox filled in as a “new girl” for several episodes. Okay, so you probably did know this one if you’ve been watching!

 

New Girl airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on FOX.