What Hannah Simone Has Been Up To Since New Girl
Zooey Deschanel may have been the star of "New Girl," but Hannah Simone definitely made her mark. Simone played Cece Parekh, Jessica "Jess" Day's (Deschanel) best friend. Jess and Cece were stark opposites, but that's what made their relationship work. While Jess was a happy-go-lucky teacher, Cece was a fashion model, who often helped steer Jess when it came to dating and other important matters of life. And no matter what predicament Jess found herself in, Cece was always there to offer support — and vice versa.
Simone appeared in all seven seasons of "New Girl," although she, like Deschanel, didn't appear in every single episode. While Deschanel's maternity leave led to her missing in action for six episodes during the show's 6th season (via Cosmopolitan), Simone's absences (which also amounted to six episodes) were scattered over the course of the show.
When "New Girl" ended in 2018, Simone had a hard time letting go. When asked in a Refinery 29 interview about how she felt about the show's last table read, she called it emotional, adding, "This is my first show, so it's my first love." In the time since the last episode aired, the "New Girl" cast has moved on to other projects. For example, Deschanel has been up to quite a bit since wrapping the Fox show, including doing voice work for "Trolls" and, unfortunately, ending her marriage with Jacob Pechenik, per People. Simone has also been quite busy with various creative endeavors.
Hannah Simone is still working in Hollywood
Hannah Simone's career has slowed a tad since "New Girl" ended. However, she's still been grinding. Shortly after the show ended, Deadline reported that Simone had been cast in ABC's "The Great American Hero" revival, in which she was supposed to play a gender-bent version of the series' protagonist. However, the network ultimately decided to pass on the show, per The Hollywood Reporter. At the time, Simone posted a since-deleted tweet, writing (via THR), "We just found out that network TV isn't ready for the first brown female superhero on TV." She later replaced that tweet, writing that she was "blessed" to have had the chance to film the pilot.
From there, Simone appeared in a variety of guest stints or short, multi-episode arcs on projects like "Single Parents," "Awokened," and "The Unauthorized Bash Brother's Experience" (via IMDb). Simone has also dabbled in voice work, contributing to children-centered shows like "Loafy," "No Activity," and "Mira, Royal Detective." In August 2022, Deadline announced that Simone would star alongside Gina Rodriguez in another ABC comedy, titled "Not Dead Yet." According to the publication, the show was a small screen adaptation of "Confessions of a Forty-Something F*** Up." As of this writing, the series is set to premiere in February 2023.
Simone has also dabbled in the fashion world. In 2019, she briefly also teamed up with TJ Maxx to deliver a curated pod of bi-coastal attire at a discount for the company's "Maxximize Your Style" campaign, per Hollywood Life.
Hannah Simone hosts a New Girl podcast with Zooey Deschanel
Post-"New Girl" Hannah Simone has also joined the podcasting world. And like so many other stars of late, her podcast is all about her hit TV show. In this case, we're talking "New Girl," of course. The best part is that Simone hosts the podcast, titled "Welcome to Our Show," with her former co-stars Zooey Deschanel and Lamorne Morris," per Variety. According to the podcast's synopsis, the hosts gather to rewatch the show's episodes and give fans all the juicy, behind the scenes tea they weren't previously privy to.
"'New Girl' fans have a lot of questions about everything from the actual rules of True American to ping pong etiquette with Prince," Simone dished to Entertainment Weekly in January 2022. "Zooey, Lamorne, and I have missed each other so much, and I'm so excited that we've created a show where we can finally answer those questions and share so many untold crazy 'New Girl' stories that happened while we made the show," she added. According to The Montclarion, "Welcome to Our Show" premiered on January 24, 2022, with two episodes, then transitioned to singular Monday releases. The publication notes that, like "New Girl," the podcast's theme song is sung by Deschanel.
All that being said, it certainly seems like Simone is keeping herself busy!