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Lamorne Morris

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Lamorne Morris
Morris at the 2022 WonderCon
Born (1983-08-14) August 14, 1983 (age 41)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actor, comedian
Years active2002–present
Children1[1]

Lamorne Morris (born August 14, 1983) is an American actor and comedian. He has played the roles of Winston Bishop in the Fox sitcom New Girl (2011–2018), Daniel in Call Me Kat, Darrin Morris in the National Geographic docudrama Valley of the Boom (2019), about the 90s tech boom, cartoonist Keef Knight in the Hulu comedy Woke (2020–2022),[2] and North Dakota State Trooper Whitley "Witt" Farr in the fifth season of Fargo, for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award.[3] He has also had supporting roles in the films Barbershop: The Next Cut (2016), Game Night (2018), Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), and Yesterday (2019).

Early life

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Morris grew up on the South Side of Chicago. As a teenager he moved to the western suburb of Glen Ellyn, where he attended Glenbard South High School.[4] His mother worked for the United States Postal Service.[5] He also has a brother, Devon.[6] Before he discovered acting, Morris was a class clown who would frequently be sent to detention.[7]

Morris graduated from the College of DuPage in 2003 where he studied theatre and received the Chris Farley Memorial Acting Scholarship.[8] He also attended the Second City Training Center, and was a member of Second City's Outreach And Diversity Ensemble. While studying at Second City, Morris worked as a server at Ed Debevic's, a retro-themed diner where the servers act rude to the diners.[7]

Career

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Morris appeared in commercials for State Farm Insurance, Taco Bell, Twix, Miller Lite, Las Vegas, 7 Up, Edge, Sears, Microsoft Windows, Chili's, McDonald's, Ford, and Hornitos Tequila. In 2019, he became the spokesperson for the Canadian-based Bank of Montreal and the Chicago-based Bank of Montreal subsidiary BMO Harris Bank.[4]

Morris started out as an on-air personality for BET, hosting HotWyred, an interactive tech and gaming show as well as the daily music and entertainment news show BET Now in addition to other appearances. Morris also hosted the game show BrainRush on Cartoon Network as part of CN Real.[8]

Morris's breakthrough came when he was cast as Winston Bishop in the comedy series New Girl on Fox (2011–2018).[9] Morris did not appear until the second episode[10] - originally, Damon Wayans Jr. was a member of the cast, in the role of Coach. However, Wayans's other comedy series, Happy Endings, had already been picked up for a second season on rival network ABC. The producers of New Girl initially planned to recast Wayans's role,[11] but later decided not to recast and instead wrote his character out in the second episode. Morris cowrote the season 4 episode "Par 5" and directed the final season episode in which Winston reconnects with his dad, played by J.B. Smoove.[12][5]

In November 2018 it was announced that Morris would be starring in a half-hour sitcom, Woke, based on cartoonist Keith Knight's autobiographical comic strip The K Chronicles on Hulu.[13] It ran for two seasons, released in 2020 and 2022, and was canceled in June 2022.[14]

Morris has also appeared in the films Barbershop: The Next Cut (2016), Game Night (2018), The Christmas Chronicles (2018), Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), Yesterday (2019), Bloodshot (2020), and Desperados (2020).

During the COVID-19 lockdown, Morris co-created and starred in the scripted action-comedy podcast Unwanted for QCODE. The 8-episode series revolves around a pair of slackers who attempt to capture an escaped murderer hiding in their town for a million-dollar reward.[15]

In April 2021, it was announced that Morris would co-star in an Indie horror film titled Night Shift, alongside Phoebe Tonkin and Madison Hu. The film will be directed by Paul and Benjamin China.[16]

He began cohosting Welcome to Our Show, a New Girl rewatch podcast with co-stars Hannah Simone and Zooey Deschanel, distributed by IHeartRadio, in January 2022.[17] In 2022, he was cast as North Dakota State Trooper Whitley "Witt" Farr in the fifth season of the FX black comedy-crime drama anthology series Fargo, which premiered in November 2023 and concluded in January 2024. For his performance he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.[18]

In July 2024, it was announced Morris was set to play Robbie Robertson in the upcoming Spider-Noir television show on Amazon Prime Video.[19] Filming is set to begin in September 2024 in Los Angeles.[20]

Personal life

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Comedian Garrett Morris (no relation), whom Morris played in Saturday Night, has had a big impact on his career path as an entertainer.[21] Morris is a baseball, basketball, and bowling fan. He supports semi-retired professional bowler Pete Weber and the Chicago White Sox. Morris has also stated that every room in his house has something to do with basketball.[22]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2002 Urban Ground Squirrels Little David Voice
2009 To Have & Have More Michael's Agent
2012 Belizean James: No Gold Anything Belizean James Short film
2014 Sex Ed Bobby the Bouncer
2016 Barbershop: The Next Cut Jerrod
2017 Sandy Wexler Bling
2018 Game Night Kevin Sterling
The Christmas Chronicles Mikey Jameson
2019 Yesterday Head of Marketing
Jumanji: The Next Level Heater Repair Man
2020 Bloodshot Wilfred Wigans
Desperados Sean McGuire
Death of a Telemarketer Kasey Miller
2021 How It Ends Larry
2024 Saturday Night Garrett Morris

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2009 BrainRush Host
2010 The Middle Salesman Episode: "Royal Wedding"
2011 The Assistants Scott Smiley Television film
The Guild Craven Episode: "Megagame-o-ramacon!"
2011–2018 New Girl Winston Bishop Principal cast; 145 episodes
Wrote "Par 5"; directed "Godparents"
Nominated – Teen Choice Awards TV Breakout Star: Male
2013 Drunk History Martin Luther King Jr. Episode: "Atlanta"
Dear Secret Santa Jack Television film
2014 Kroll Show Tony Bell Episode: "Krolling Around with Nick Klown"
2015 Lucas Bros. Moving Co. Karlton (voice) Episode: "Nutopia"
2017 Star vs. the Forces of Evil Grandmaster (voice) Episode: "All Belts Are Off"
SMILF Adult Larry Episode: "Run, Bridgette, Run or Forty-Eight Burnt Cupcakes & Graveyard Rum"
2018 Hell's Kitchen Himself Guest diner; Episode: "All–Star Finale"
2019 Valley of the Boom Darrin Morris
Squinters Frank
2020 The Eric Andre Show N-Word Scissorhands Episode: "You Got Served"
2020–2022 Woke Keef Knight Lead role
2021 Call Me Kat Daniel Recurring role, 4 episodes
No Activity Officer Cooper Episode: "Not Another Waco!"
2022 The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder Himself (voice) Episode: "When You Wish Upon a Roker"
Alice's Wonderland Bakery Dandy (voice)
2023 Fargo Trooper Witt Farr Main role (season 5)
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
2024 Ghosts Saul Episode: "The Polterguest"
Unstable Peter 8 episodes
TBA Spider-Noir Robbie Robertson Filming[23][24]

Audio

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Year Title Role Notes
2021 10 Days Paul Washington 6 episodes [25][26]

Web

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Year Title Role Notes
2014 "Wiggle" PARODY by Bart Baker Jason Derulo Main role

References

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  1. ^ "Lamorne Morris Reveals the Most Surprising Part of Parenting a 3 Year-Old | the Drew Barrymore Show". YouTube. January 15, 2024.
  2. ^ "Lamorne Morris reluctantly becomes 'Woke' in an exclusive trailer for the new Hulu series". EW.com. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  3. ^ "Tevevison Academy Emmys Nominations and Awards Lamorne Morris". www.emmys.com. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Swartz, Tracy (April 3, 2019). "'New Girl' alum and Chicago-area native Lamorne Morris talks BMO pitchman status, Jussie Smollett and Kurt Russell's 'biggest movie'". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Tedder, Michael (September 9, 2020). "Lamorne Morris Is Waking Up". The Ringer. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  6. ^ "New Girl's Lamorne Morris Shows Off His L.A. Bachelor Pad — Complete with a Sweet Tribute to his Co-stars!". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  7. ^ a b "A 'New' Man: Lamorne Morris". SPLASH. April 26, 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Lamorne Morris - TV Guide". TVGuide.com. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  9. ^ Wright, Emily (September 5, 2013). "Recap: 'New Girl' star Lamorne Morris chats about the show, more". Boston.com.
  10. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (July 8, 2011). "'New Girl': Lamorne Morris Replaces Damon Wayans Jr. in Fox Comedy". The Hollywood Reporter.
  11. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (May 13, 2011). "ABC Renews 'Happy Endings', Fox's 'New Girl' To Recast Damon Wayans Jr". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  12. ^ Holbrook, Damian (May 8, 2018). "Lamorne Morris Talks Directing J.B. Smoove on 'New Girl' — Plus, a Sneak Peek! (VIDEO)". TV Insider. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  13. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (November 2, 2018). "Lamorne Morris Will Play Cartoonist Keith Knight in 'Woke' Comedy for Hulu". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
  14. ^ Otterson, Joe (June 24, 2022). "'Woke' Canceled at Hulu After Two Seasons". Variety. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
  15. ^ "First Listen! New Girl's Lamorne Morris Made an Action-Comedy for Your Ears". PEOPLE. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  16. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (April 15, 2021). "Phoebe Tonkin, Lamorne Morris & Madison Hu To Star In Horror Indie 'Night Shift' From Defiant Studios".
  17. ^ "iHeartRadio Announces "Welcome to Our Show," A "New Girl" Rewatch Podcast Hosted by Zooey Deschanel, Hannah Simone, and Lamorne Morris". iHeart Media. January 13, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  18. ^ "Lamorne Morris of 'Fargo' is going to his first Emmy Awards. We followed him as he got ready". Los Angeles Times.
  19. ^ Otterson, Joe (July 9, 2024). "Spider-Man Noir Series at Amazon, MGM+ Casts Lamorne Morris as Robbie Robertson". Variety. Retrieved July 10, 2024.
  20. ^ Singh, Sartaj (May 23, 2024). "Nicolas Cage's Spider-Man Series 'Noir' Begins Filming in LA in September". TheCinemaholic. Retrieved July 10, 2024.
  21. ^ Penrice, Ronda Racha (October 11, 2024). "Lamorne Morris grew up idolizing the first Black 'SNL' star. Now, he's playing him in a movie". NBC News. Retrieved October 16, 2024.
  22. ^ "Go Inside Lamorne Morris' Grown-Up Fun House | PeopleTV". YouTube. March 25, 2020.
  23. ^ Otterson, Joe (July 9, 2024). "Spider-Man Noir Series at Amazon, MGM+ Casts Lamorne Morris as Robbie Robertson". Variety. Retrieved July 10, 2024.
  24. ^ Canfield, David (August 12, 2024). "Lamorne Morris Levels Up: 'I Want to Be Morgan Freeman'". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on August 12, 2024. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
  25. ^ Spangler, Todd (October 13, 2021). "Glen Powell Starring in Audible's '10 Days' Basketball Drama Podcast From Executive Producer Steve Nash". Variety. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  26. ^ "10 Days | Basketball Drama Podcast by Aaron Tracy, Starring Glen Powell". Parallax. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
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