Lamorne Morris Talks Challenges Of Being ‘New Girl’s Only Black Lead: “He Ain’t Got No Job. Is That The Storyline Now?”

In the new biopic Saturday Night , Emmy winner Lamorne Morris takes on one of his most challenging roles yet: Portraying Garrett Morris , one of the original “Not Ready for Prime Time Players” from Saturday Night Live . Though the two share a last name and the same profession, the two couldn’t be any more different — at least on first glance.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly , Lamorne opened up about his time in the industry as a Black man, specifically after securing his breakthrough role in New Girl .

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While fans remember him as the lovable goofball from the Fox sitcom, behind the scenes, things weren’t as smooth. In the early years of his career, his experience mirrored Garrett’s — just without all the drugs and backstage brawls. Both had to cope with the fact that there weren’t many other Black cast and crew members on their respective shows.

“A lot of times you work on a project where you are the only Black character, but then you look around, there’s also no Black crew members, so sometimes you’re like, ‘What age are we living in? What is happening over here?'” Lamorne said. “I don’t know. But damn, there’s 100-something people y’all hired, and ain’t nobody Black but me!”

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Lamorne’s feelings of alienation were intensified by the fact that he wasn’t originally supposed to be on New Girl . After the series was picked up beyond the pilot, he replaced the only other Black actor, Damon Wayans Jr. , who left due to scheduling conflicts. Though Wayans later returned, it didn’t stop Morris and his character, Winston Bishop, from feeling replaceable.

The lack of direction is reflected in the script — towards the beginning of the show, Winston’s characterization is somewhat inconsistent and unmemorable. Thankfully, Lamorne was willing to stick it out and create a truly iconic television character.

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Speaking specifically of his early days on New Girl , Lamorne told EW , “Even though it’s not personal, sometimes you take it personal, and you’re like, ‘What the hell, man? I’m the one Black character on this show, and they don’t know how to figure out my character. He ain’t got no job. Is that the storyline now?'”

He added, “It’s not easy to develop characters for a television series. And so kudos to the writers for figuring it out and really sticking with me because there were days where I felt like I’m going to get fired.”

Lamorne channeled these frustrations into his depiction of Garrett in Saturday Night , since the comedian faced similar obstacles. Because Garrett was the first-ever Black cast member on SNL , Lamorne wanted to ensure that his childhood hero, whom he used to joke was his father , was written true to life.

Saturday Night is currently playing in theaters, while New Girl is available to stream on Hulu .

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