When Lamorne Morris landed his breakthrough role on New girl, He had a clear goal: to appear on a late-night talk show. But despite starring in a hit comedy, the actor and stand-up comedian couldn’t get a gig for years. “I’d love to be on late-night talk shows as a guest, just to feel a little bit recognized, to be honest,” he says. “And I can’t do it to save my life.” Cut to more than a decade later, and Morris has just finished a stint storage ABC of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, was one of the summer replacements for the show’s eponymous host. He still has the plaque on his desk with his name on it. Morris displays it in his Zoom window with a beaming, proud smile.
That late-night milestone highlights a first year for Morris. He’s meeting — and exceeding — the expectations he set for himself as a rising young Hollywood actor. Not only is he finally landing a big role on a prestige TV show, in the fifth season of FX’s Fargo, but he also received his first Emmy nomination for the role. Not only did he start working with Oscar-nominated filmmakers like Jason Reitman, but he is playing the breakout game Garrett Morris In Reitman’s vibrant fall release, Saturday night. And he didn’t just start producing big-budget movies. Spider-Noir superhero series, but he also acts the opposite Nicolas Cage. (Yes, Morris had stories about his co-stars.)
In conversation with Vanity Fair, Morris openly admits that it’s been a long time coming—and happily reflects on the bumpy road it’s been.
Vanity Fair: You’re always a busy person, but every project you’re working on right now seems to stand out in particular. Does this moment feel different to you?
Lamorne Morris: Honestly, it’s true. It’s the directors, the actors, the producers, the people who operate in a different space that I’ve been working with recently, and it’s refreshing. There used to be a time when you would do a project with people like this, who could really bring you to life, and then you’d spend a year doing other things here and there, and then you’d have another project. This particular season of my life has been a blessing. I’m learning from every single person I work with, and everyone I work with is at a higher level than me that I need to learn from and I’m absorbing.
Even just getting a call to participate in something like FargoI think it’s pretty cool. Would you like to do more dramatic television work?
Oh yeah, it’s like you’re outside and looking at all the cool stuff that’s happening on TV. Don’t get me wrong, New Girl is a great program—but then you wait for some of these invitations and you read some things here and there, and some things you don’t get considered because people think you’re not capable of doing these things. I thank God for that. Noah [Hawley] that he gave me the opportunity to show my abilities. It’s clearly working. [Laughs] Being nominated for an Emmy is great, but it takes a director or producer or executive or someone to give an actor the opportunity to show that, and I’m glad he did.
Were there times when you felt like an outsider looking in, as you said, and felt particularly uncomfortable trying to get into some of those rooms?
Sure. When I first started. New GirlI had a really successful pilot season. I was doing a lot of commercials and had no stage reps. When I finally broke through on this show, it was like everything happened so fast. I came out of nowhere. I had a few offers that pilot season, but I was an unknown actor, and then I got on a show — one of the most coveted shows of the year — and so other people were on the outside looking in. They were like, “Dude, you made it!” But for me, the conversations I had with my team were, “Well, this casting director isn’t going to see you. They’re only going to see certain names.”
Do you feel like being rejected?
