Why Lamorne Morris Was Asked To Throw His ‘New Girl’ Audition

It's no secret that when actors are starting their careers, they have to jump through all kinds of hoops in order to land their first big role, but who knew tanking an audition would be a part of the process?

Lamorne Morris, most known for his role as “Winston” on FOX comedy New Girl, told Brian Baumgartner on his podcast that he not only had to go to 15 auditions for the show, but was being asked to blow off FOX for another network show. During an audition for the pilot episode of The Assistance, CBS producers stopped him in the middle of his reading with a wild proposal.

“They said, ‘We hear you’re testing for New Girl tomorrow; can we ask you tank that audition?”” Morris recalled. “And I said, ‘What?!’ They really wanted me for The Assistance.”

Morris told Baumgartner he went home unsure of what to do. Both would be incredible opportunities for shows that had network potential. After talking with his close friend Ramses Jimenez and his mentor the late Chadwick Boseman, Morris felt better about his decision.

“(Boseman) said ‘Hey man, you have to do the job that fulfills you the most. Whether you get it or not, you don’t want to live with saying you didn’t shoot your shot,’” said Morris.

The next day as Morris was waiting for his New Girl screen test to begin, he got a call from his agent that CBS wanted to make him an offer for more money to be on their show. After negotiations with FOX fell through Morris accepted the deal to be on The Assistance and Damon Wayans Jr. was cast as “Coach” on New Girl.

In the end, Morris’ CBS show wasn’t picked up and Wayans other show Happy Endings was greenlit for a second season. So, Morris reapproached FOX about being on their new comedy.

“They loved Damon’s performance so much they wanted to keep it and not redo it, so they had to write an entirely new character for the show,” said Morris. “They didn’t know what they wanted. That’s why I had to read so many times.”

Listen to the entire interview with Morris on Off The Beat with Brian Baumgartner on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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