After scoring his first Emmy nomination for his work in the fifth season of FX’s crime anthology Fargo , Lamorne Morris hopped on the phone with Deadline to tease Sony’s SNL 1975 and Prime Video’s Spider-Noir , also discussing his hopes for the future of his career.
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Of SNL 1975 , Morris said, “Jason Reitman directed the hell out of this thing. It’s a great look at day one at SNL , the ups and downs, how the show almost didn’t happen, the characters. Lorne Michaels, played by Gabe LaBelle, trying to manage all these personalities, all while getting this show on the air. Obviously, now, we know 50 years later what this show has become, but to see the origin of it and the actors on this movie will blow your mind.”
Part of the draw to the project, for Morris, was the chance to portray SNL ‘s first Black cast member Garrett Morris, who he got to meet over the course of production. “He is still, till this day, one of the funniest people walking on Earth. He is so good. Just talking to him, the guy made a joke,” the actor recalls. “He just randomly hit me up and said — because we have the same last name — he just randomly hit me up once and said, ‘Hey man, I’m not entirely convinced that I am not your daddy. Tell your mama I owe her a call.'”
In discussing Spider-Man Noir , Amazon’s 1930s-set live-action series which has him starring opposite Nicolas Cage as the Daily Bugle’s Robbie Robertson, Morris revealed that it was on his “bucket list…to play a character in a world that is not necessarily real, opposite actors who are veteran OGs that can teach you a thing or two, that you could be on set learning while performing.”
Morris added that “when you grow up on comics and even animation, you want to be a part of that world, and this combines those worlds. It’s the comic, it’s live-action, it’s Nick Cage, Brendan Gleeson. So, being a part of that group is a bucket list thing for sure.”
If there’s another item on Morris’ bucket list, it would be the chance to play a basketball player on screen — and not like the typical actor demonstrating little to no real athletic prowess. “I want to play a basketball player because I’m decent at basketball. I have a feeling I would be exactly like those actors that [my friends and I] make fun of, but I really want to play basketball in some sort of movie or TV show,” he says with a laugh. “It seems silly, but that would be the best of both worlds for me. Basketball is my favorite thing in the world, and so combining my two passions would be awesome.”
When the conversation turned to Morris’ Emmy nomination, Morris said that he had “a strong feeling” that Fargo would be nominated, even if he couldn’t say the same for himself. In texting on a group chain with creatives from the show on the heels of his nomination, his earnest message to them was, “Do I get to go?”
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Explains Morris, “I thought, well, I know the show got nominated, but it’s a big cast. Do they have enough seats at their table? Do I have to sit in another room? Those are the thoughts going through my head.”
Morris said that the chance to work on Fargo was special as a fan of the show, who’d just been making his way through Season 4 when he was approached to star alongside Juno Temple, Jon Hamm, Joe Keery and more in the fifth installment of the Noah Hawley series.
The actor relished the chance to show a different side of himself, as someone known for “broader comedy” like New Girl , Fox’s hit sitcom in which he starred as Winston Bishop. The hope, going forward, is to continue to be able to carve out a varied resume that includes further dramatic roles.
“When I go to work, I want to feel moved in certain ways, and a lot of times fun is at the center of that, when you get a chance to play with other scenes partners, discover new things and create new things, and it doesn’t always have to be humorous,” he says. “I’m always up for challenging myself to be better, and hopefully this is a step in that right direction.”
Morris was nominated in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for his turn as a Whitley “Witt” Farr, a State Trooper trying to help protect Dorothy ‘Dot’ Lyon (Juno Temple) from the evil Sheriff (Jon Hamm) pursuing her. His competitors at this year’s Emmys will include Jonathan Bailey ( Fellow Travelers ), Robert Downey Jr. ( The Sympathizer ), Tom Goodman-Hill ( Baby Reindeer ), John Hawkes ( True Detective: Night Country ), Lewis Pullman ( Lessons in Chemistry ) and Treat Williams ( Feud: Capote vs. The Swans ).
This year’s Primetime Emmys are set to take place at the Peacock Theater downtown on September 15.
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