For the promotion of the new comedy show New Girl Zooey Deschanel made herself available for a question and answer session.

I had the pleasure to be present during this conference call which showed once again how incredibly sweet and yes, adorable, the new tv.-actress is. She was upbeat, energetic and full of spunk answering the questions coming her way.

Zooey explained that although the role of Jess Day wasn’t initially specifically written for her but it felt right. This is what she said:
“I know it wasn’t written for me initially, but it was sort of a perfect fit, you know. You go to a store and there’s a dress that just looks like it was made for you, but it wasn’t. That’s sort of like what it was like. Then, now that I’m on the show, it is written for me. It’s wonderful to have all these great writers writing stuff for me.”

About how she got the part, if it was offered to her:
“I just happened to read this script. I was so blown away by how perfect it was for me and how funny it was, and sweet, and smart. I just fell in love with this project. I guess I hadn’t seriously considered any television shows before, but this was just too great to pass up.
Yes, they offered me the part. So, they sent it to me and I said I liked it. They offered it to me and took a chance that I would be able to do it. They took a chance on me.”

Zooey’s favorite aspect of her character Jess:
“I really love that she’s totally herself, even though she’s awkward at times and kind of nerdy at times. She’s not afraid of being herself, whether it comes out as being a little bit naive or something else, or just a really strong sense of self. She’s totally herself. I think that’s really nice to see in female characters, because a lot of times female characters are just reacting to the men. Especially in comedies, I think a lot of time the female characters are there to provide a balance for guys. And, I really don’t feel that’s true with this character. I really feel like she’s equal to all the guys. I really, really love that. She’s a real true modern woman.”

Her thoughts about being in a house with three guys:
“Well, I feel like it’s easy to take the show and be like, oh, it’s a girl and three guys. Obviously with any sort of plot, you can boil it down and turn it into something that sounds like generic. And, I do think that that is too generic.
I think that as far as this goes, it’s really about the person who’s having a big change in her life, and these people that help her. It’s less about male/female dynamics and more, I think, about these particular individuals relating to one another. I have a lot of guy friends and they all have helped me a lot in different ways. So, I feel like it’s less about her moving in with guys and more of about the person who’s really in transition in her life and her friends helping her.”

Is Jess’s random singing her biggest characteristic?
“Well, I think that she’s not really, she’s not a singer, although that is something I do as a profession. I felt like Jess should be—her singing comes out of pure self-expression. I just didn’t want her to be like Maria Callas or whatever, Beyoncé. I just didn’t want her to be a really great singer.
I thought she should be whatever manner she tries to sing in should match her mood at the time, and that she’s not really singing out of showing off her vocal togs as much as trying to express something she can’t express, and to express a certain awkwardness. Yes, she sings a lot. That’s one of her character quirks. So, you will definitely hear a lot more weird random singing.”

Zooey tells about what she expects happens in the future for Jess considering that the ‘Pilot’ was mostly focused on her break-up.
“Yes, the pilot’s a lot about the break-up. There is some stuff about the break-up. But, it’s more, I think, finding her way in the future is more of the focus and less the getting over the break-up. It’s more the totally I’m used to being a single woman and finding her way in that world. That is more the sort of territory that we cover in the episodes to follow the pilot.”

She also spoke about how the casting of the guys went, how she experienced it and how they created the interaction for the show.
“I actually pretty much read with every single person that came in for a callback or almost everybody that made it past the first three, I read with. So, I felt like being a part of that casting process was really eye opening for me as an actress. Also, it allowed me to experiment with my character. It also allowed me to really see who I was going to work best with, because when I was cast, no one else was cast. I read with all those guys from the beginning. Really, we just cast the people who were the best actors. Obviously, you want the best comedic actors. But, I find that the best actors also tend to be really funny because the comedy’s coming out of the situation rather than just the ability to deliver jokes.
So, we really, first and foremost, were telling a story. We just wanted the people that could really help tell these stories and were also hilarious and great actors as well. We really have a great rapport. I really love these guys so much.”

As of episode two, Coach has been replaced by a new character, Winston (Lamorne Morris). Zooey told us what his character is like and how he came about to replace Coach.
“Winston is Nick’s friend from childhood who has been playing basketball overseas in Latvia for two years. He had been living in the apartment and then moved out with subletting to Coach. So, that’s the plot. But, basically, he’s a guy who is figuring himself out, too, because he’s been away chasing his dream. It didn’t really work out. He’s back. He’s trying to find a job. He is a guy who’s really great at everything, but his dream didn’t come true. He wants to win all the time. So, that’s his little thing, is that he wants to win all the time. He’s really good at everything, but he doesn’t always win. He can’t quite understand it.
May I say Lamorne Morris, who plays Winston, is a really wonderful actor, is really, really funny. We’re very lucky to have him.”

How does Zooey juggle her new acting gig with her singing career, and how does she de-stress?
“I don’t. I go to sleep. At the end of the day, I basically eat and learn my lines at the same time. It’s really just trying to multitask as best I can. Sometimes, you have to scramble to get stuff done, or a lot of times you have to scramble to get stuff done. But, I really love it because I love being busy. I’m a person who has a lot of energy. So, yes, I don’t really stop to rest or de-stress. I just keep going. I figure that if you don’t stop, then you’ll never notice how tired you are.”4

FOX says our New Girl Jess Day is ‘adorkable’, but is Zooey?
“I don’t know. That’s sort of like an outside in description. I don’t really talk to people when they say stuff about themselves. I can be like well, I’m the type of person who blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I wouldn’t trust myself. I don’t know. Let’s say this: There’s a lot of Jess that is very much like me. I feel like I understand her very well. I feel like she is very much like I was when I was 13. I was not the coolest kid in my class. I feel like that inner dork is a wonderful thing to have. And, on behalf of middle-schoolers all around, I like to represent. So, yes, I don’t know. I definitely have a part of myself is a lot like Jess. So, I’ll leave it at that. But, I don’t know if I’d describe myself as particularly adorkable. I don’t know.”

What will draw people into watching New Girl, according to Zooey and more importantly, what will make viewers coming back?
“To be honest, this is a new world for me. So, I’m like that little kid, I don’t know. I have to say there’s something about this show—and I’m not saying it has anything to do with me, because I obviously wouldn’t want to say that, but this show I feel so lucky I jumped aboard this train, because the writing is so great and it just feels really special to me to be working on it. I can’t explain it. I have had this feeling about a small number of things I’ve worked on, very small numbers. I just have a really special feeling about this. I think it’s really the writing. It’s a good group of people. I think it’s different. It plays more like a romantic comedy than a sitcom, per se, even though it has some of the physical comedy that some of the classic sitcoms have. We’re telling stories that are not purely comedic. I really believe that you end up caring about these characters. I think that for me that’s what has brought me into loving shows. But, obviously I just think that if I like it, then probably, hopefully somebody else will.”

Hearing Zooey talk about her character, her new show, herself, I had the feeling I was around Jess Day. The casting couldn’t have been more perfect for this quirky, adorkable girl who will take residence on your Tuesday evening. Along with Zooey, I too hope people warm up to the show, the characters and show Zooey that her feelings are correct and that just like her, the viewers will like the show too.

Tune in on Tuesdays 9/8c for the new comedy New Girl, premiering on September 20^th, following Glee on FOX.