During the Emmys broadcast — before the award for Supporting Actor in a Limited Series was announced — Lamorne Morris kept receiving text messages from friends. The actor, best known for New girl and most recently for his turn in the fifth season of Fargohe's also the face of BMO Bank, and his 30-second spot played in nearly every commercial break. “I've been doing this stuff for six or seven years, but people in Los Angeles are just now noticing,” Morris says, laughing. “Everyone said, 'This must be a sign.' And it turns out it was.
Morris, 41, took home his first gold statuette for his role that night Fargoa moment that he says gives him immense pride (when asked, he quickly displays — with a giant smile — the Emmy trophy on the Zoom screen in his home office) but won't change the way he approaches his career. “I've been waiting to see if I'll feel different, but I don't think that time will come,” he says. “I've been doing this for so long, so it feels like a sign that I'm on the right path. Plus, I'm a single dad, so I won't take a day off after winning an Emmy. And my friends and family keep me balanced: my sister always tells me every time I achieve something: “You're not shit.” ”
Now the actor is looking at his next projects — how SNL cast member Garrett Morris (no relation) to Jason Reitman Saturday evening (in theaters October 9) and in the live-action Marvel series Spider-Noirwhich he just started working on playing Peter Parker's friend Robbie Robertson – and finding a way, one day, to land the one gig that still remains No. 1 on his career bucket list: hosting SNL.
An Emmy doesn't change your life overnight, but has anything in your career done so?
New girl. I had some success, I was a guest on BET for a while. Then I moved to Los Angeles and went broke and couldn't take it anymore. But get New girlI immediately thought, “Well, all I have to do is not screw it up and let Zooey Deschanel do the rest. I remember Fox had all these events that they took us to for the show, and there were 1,000 fans outside, and I thought, “Wow.” Afterwards I had to move differently. I literally had to change my phone number. Inside I still felt like the same person, but I had to change my behavior a little.
I think losing your city area code would be monumental…
Oh man, I still miss that phone number. It was so cheesy because it was 708-2287, but if you dial 2287, it spells “actr”.
You say your sister is the one who keeps you the most balanced. What is your mother's opinion of your success?
A win for me is a win for her. She also loved going to the Emmys, she's really funny and charismatic so she loves all the people who talk to her. At one point there was a strap that had come undone on the back of her dress and Jon Hamm and his wife were helping her fix it. He kept bragging that Jon Hamm is fixing my dress.
Did he always understand your desire to pursue acting?
He saw before me that I should follow that path. I would say it encouraged a creative profession more than other professions that people would consider “noble,” like a doctor or a lawyer. He always encouraged me, even when I tried to leave the business. At one point I was so broke and stressed that I thought, Los Angeles isn't for me, I'll go back to Chicago and teach improv. He sent me all the money he had in his savings account, which wasn't a lot of money, and said: pay the rent and find a solution. You're not going to give up.
What was “getting it” like at the time? What made you get out of that position?
I think booking what was my first national commercial. It was for the Edge Active Care shaving cream, where I'm talking and a woman starts massaging my face, and then I get nervous about how smooth my skin is. That was my first introduction to the national stage, and then you start building relationships with casting directors.
What is your comfort level with the everyday elements of fame, like being stopped by fans?
I get recognized pretty much every day. Some people shy away from it, but I like being out in the open, I've come a long way and it's the fans who put me in this position of success, so I embrace it. Most of the time it is New Related to girls, so I'll take something like “Winnie the Bish!” or “I have a cat!” People love to tell me about their pets. Lately I've been getting “Yo, Keith!” which is a character I played on a show called I woke up. Or now Deputy Witt Farr. They call me anything but my name.
Lamorne Morris as SNL cast member Garrett Morris in the film directed by Jason Reitman Saturday eveningwhich will open on October 9th.
In post-Emmy analysis, I've seen a lot of talk about your work New girl be “underestimated”. Do you feel this way?
Well, the show got a lot of love, but it got even more love after it aired and we were on Netflix. It seems like people are appreciating it on a completely different level than before, and there's a new generation of people who are discovering it. I still get asked all the time, when is the new season coming out? People don't realize we haven't been on the air for years. There will be no next season unless Jake Johnson decides he wants one. Jake is our obstacle. Everyone else so far is willing to do it. I hope Liz Meriweather is writing right now. But should it be without Jake Johnson, I don't think it will.
Are you anxious about a revival?
No, it's too expensive. His point is that I need to get paid. And we're like, Jake, please just do it for the fans. And he says no, I have to get paid. Let's hope you change your mind.
What do you think is most likely to happen: Game night 2 oh New girl meeting?
I think probably Game night 2. You have to talk to the powers that be Game nightbut listen, I want to do it. I can speak for all the actors, they want to do it. Well, I can't speak for Jason Bateman. Or Rachel McAdams or Sharon Horgan. But I can speak for Billy Magnussen: he wants to do it.
Can you talk about the decision to thank Billy in your Emmy speech?
He was one of my biggest supporters. We talk about everything, we share everything about our career. We share how much money we make, which is kind of taboo in this industry, but we use it to help each other grow and build. He was there for me even while I was filming Fargothere were some ups and downs with the show and he walked me through things and even came to visit me on set.
I'm surprised that, even during the strike, issues like salary didn't become more open among actors.
I wish it wasn't. We all work for money, you know? I wish we could have more honesty because I think it would make everything less messy and stressful. Negotiation time can be really difficult because we put a monetary value on what I'm doing and this can lead to resentment from the people you work with and for. But if we all talked to each other and heard that the lead actor gets 100 dollars and I only get 10, I don't need to make 100, but get a little closer. The disparity can be crazy on sets. And there's also jealousy and envy and all those things you want to avoid, so I don't know how we would proceed. But you heard that Robert Downey Jr. will get X amount of dollars Doctor Doomthen the other actors in that universe know what is possible.
You sing inside Saturday eveningthat seemed like a new side to you. Were you nervous?
More or less. I'm a long way from the days of choir and musical theatre. But if you watch Garrett Morris sing on the show, he was having fun. He wasn't doing his operatic thing. So there's less pressure. But Jason [Reitman]this asshole, let me tell you what he did. Just before shooting that scene, he gathers everyone around, all the other actors, so that they all look at me while I have to sing. But in the end it worked.
Have you ever been to a real life recording of Saturday night live?
Years ago, when Zooey hosted, we all went to show our support. I wanted to be on the show. I auditioned years ago, sent in a tape, and they asked me to send it back with a few more political impressions. I'm not really a political guy. I was like, Obama, I guess? In the end I don't think I even made an impression. But then I booked New girl that same year, so things went well. I think hosting the show would be the greatest thing that could happen to me. Maybe I could just walk into 30 Rock and talk to one of the security guards, brother to brother. I have very kind eyes, so I think they would let me in and kick me in the back of the studio.
What else is on your career bucket list?
It used to mean joining the Marvel Universe. They seem to be having a lot of fun and I always want to have fun on set. Now I'm about to start Black Spider with Nick Cage and Brandon Gleason, which is really cool. But I want to be a superhero and we'll see if the show allows that. Or share a screen with Eddie Murphy.
A version of this story appeared in the Oct. 9 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to sign up.