LaMorne Morris has worn many hats in his career. From working as a server at TGI Fridays to landing his career-defining role as Winston Bishop in the hit series New Girl, he knows how challenging navigating the job market can be.
That’s why the Emmy-nominated actor said yes to a partnership with Mike’s Hard Lemonade, the popular spirits brand whose mission is to help unwind after a long day.
“A lot of times in your career, when someone sends you an offer for something, it doesn’t align with what your actual lifestyle is like, so you have to fake it,” he shares with ESSENCE. “But this one made sense. It’s all about having hard work being paid off with a reward.”
He’ll be hosting the brand’s upcoming Jobstacle Course event on August 20 in NYC in which event-goers will experience what different “easy” jobs are actually like. Similarly, Morris can relate to the preconception that his own job as a renowned Hollywood figure is a seamless one. He assures that it comes with its unique challenges, especially now.
“A lot of folks are leaving LA—people are just bouncing completely,” Morris tells ESSENCE about the reported Hollywood exodus happening as jobs continue to dry up. He shares that he still lives in Los Angeles and is excited to have worked on upcoming projects that include Saturday Night, a feature film about the first episode of long-running weekly sketch show Saturday Night Live. Morris will also star in Spider Noir, a series he worked on alongside award-winning actor Nicholas Cage.
Despite his long list of wins, Morris acknowledges how fortunate he is to be consistently working amid mass layoffs and budget cuts being made across film and streaming studios.
“It’s really difficult right now,” he said. “What’s crazy is that sometimes you get an offer for something. Like Spider Noir was an offer. But the sweat equity that goes into folks even thinking about you, the years of unpaid work that you’ve done that’s out there, the years of being on a television show, seven seasons on this show, multiple seasons on that show—there is a grind in the thousands of auditions that you may have gone on. That’s tough because you do have certain benchmarks and goals that you want to reach. Being part of a superhero franchise is definitely at the top of that list. And so getting the call to be a part of it, you felt like all the hard work paid off. And not to mention the folks out there that are trying to get projects made from the ground up. That’s an impossible task. It’s not as easy as people might think. ”
Fortunately, Morris is thankful to be able to tap into all of his talents without being limited to one facet of his career.
“Back in the old days, you had to choose which lane you wanted to be. But I think the beauty of our world now is that you can do anything you want to do. If you’re an entertainer, go entertain. Regardless of the medium. I’ve just been blessed. I didn’t really know what I’d be doing. Acting is in my DNA, so now I’m doing it in all forms.”