'New Girl': Who's signed on to play Jess's parents?

'New Girl' has signed two actors to play the parents of Jess (Zooey Deschanel).

|
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
'New Girl' stars Max Greenfield (l.), Lamorne Morris (center) and Jake M. Johnson (r.) as the roommates of Jess (Zooey Deschanel).

It’s time to meet the parents responsible for the quirky cuteness that is Jess Day (Zooey Deschanel) on New Girl, as actress Jamie Lee Curtis and actor/director Rob Reiner have been tapped to play her parents in season 2.

The actors will appear in the series’ Thanksgiving episode as Bob and Joan Day – Jess’ divorced parents whose passion she’ll try to reignite in a Parent Trap-esque scenario. Currently, it looks like both Reiner and Curtis will only be stopping by for the one episode, but a return for the both of them down the line hasn’t been ruled out. 

Curtis – primarily known for such popular films as Halloween and True Lies - will be appearing on New Girl fresh off a multiple-episode arc on CBSNCIS as Dr. Samantha Ryann, a potential love interest for Special Agent Gibbs (Mark Harmon). In a recent interview, Curtis stated that she would be returning to NCIS at a later date.

Meanwhile, Reiner has made appearances on hit comedies like 30 Rock and Curb Your Enthusiasm, but is probably best known on TV for his role as Archie Bunker’s “Meathead”  son-in-law on All in the Family. Since the ’80s, Reiner has spent most of his time behind the camera directing films like This Is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, and, more recently, The Bucket List.

Comedian Rob Riggle will also be stopping by for a slice of Thanksgiving turkey as Schmidt’s (Max Greenfield) cousin and mortal enemy, who also goes by Schmidt (hence the bitter feud).

Others joining the cast of season 2 include America’s Next Top Model alum, Keenyah Hill – who will appear in episode 2 as Winston’s (Lamorne Morris) smart, sexy sister, Alisha, a professional basketball player whom Schmidt takes a liking to – and Anna Maria Horsford (the Friday movies) as Winston’s tough-talking mother.

Scott Stoute blogs at Screen Rant.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to 'New Girl': Who's signed on to play Jess's parents?
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Culture-Cafe/2012/0920/New-Girl-Who-s-signed-on-to-play-Jess-s-parents
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe