New Girl may have ended in 2018, but that hasn’t stopped Jake Johnson from sharing what it was like to have two of today’s biggest pop stars guest star on the show, though one hadn’t reached pop stardom at the time.
Taylor guest starred in the Season 2 finale in 2013 as Elaine, the ex of the man Cece (Hannah Simone) is marrying.
Jake told Rolling Stone that Taylor was already a big deal when she appeared on the show and later in the interview shared a memory of her on set.
“When she was in the hair and makeup trailer, we couldn’t believe she was doing our show. When she was on the set, the air changed. She was an air-changer,” he said.
Jake has previously complimented Taylor’s acting on the show. In 2013, ahead of the singer’s episode, Jake told Entertainment Weekly in part, “She had, like, a little monologue and delivered it perfectly.”
While discussing Taylor’s appearance on New Girl with Rolling Stone, Jake also noted Olivia Rodrigo appeared on the show when “she was just a kid.”
Olivia appeared in Season 6 in 2017 as Terrinea, one of Jess (Zooey Deschanel)’s students. She appeared alongside other actors playing students.
“So, the Olivia Rodrigo one was really weird because I remember her and those girls. It was me, Zooey, and the girls, and they were such sweet kids. And some kid actors are just good,” Jake told the publication, before explaining a joke that he and Zooey would do on set. He said they’d pretend to be “fake managers” when shooting with guests stars and would joke about competing to sign them.
“And I remember when Olivia Rodrigo and those girls were on, I was for sure trying to scoop them up because I was like, ‘There’s money in these kids!’ They were just good actors,” he said.
Jake also noted that he used to watch Olivia’s Disney Channel series Bizaardvark with his twin daughters.
“I remember being like, ‘I knew that f*****g kid was good!’ And when she really blew up, I’ve gotten really into her albums because I’ve got 10-year-old girls so I’ve heard ‘em all, I was like, ‘What a blast!'” he said.
New Girl is currently streaming on Hulu and Peacock.
