Discovering Hannah Simone: New Girl Star Reveals Prince’s Crush and Her Lack of Interest

Hannah Simone, known for her role on New Girl, disclosed that music icon Prince had a crush on her, although she did not reciprocate those feelings. During the October 24 episode of her podcast, The Mess Around with Hannah and Lamorne, she shared how Prince appeared in the season 3 episode titled “Prince”in 2014, highlighting his interest in her. Simone expressed:

“He really made an effort for a long time to connect with me. And. .. I wasn’t looking for anything like that. I enjoy his music and love listening to his records, but that was it.”

The Canadian actress gained widespread recognition for playing Cece Parekh on the beloved series New Girl, which aired on Fox from 2011 to 2018. She starred alongside notable actors such as Zooey Deschanel and her podcast co-host Lamorne Morris.

“It was like a teenage boy; he showed up at my workplace”- Hannah Simone on Prince’s affection

At 44, Hannah Simone is celebrated for her role as Cece Parikh, a character who evolved from a professional model to a bartender over the show’s run until 2018. Cece was also portrayed as the fiercely protective best friend of Zooey Deschanel’s character, Jessica Day, and shared two children with Max Greenfield’s character Schmidt.

In addition to her iconic television role, Simone has appeared in films such as 2017’s Killing Gunther featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and 2015’s Miss India America, along with voice work in animated series like Mira, Royal Detective and Not Dead Yet. Currently, she co-hosts the New Girl rewatch podcast The Mess Around with her fellow New Girl alumni, Lamorne Morris.

During the October 24 podcast episode, Hannah Simone confirmed the long-standing rumor that the legendary Prince joined the cast of New Girl because he had feelings for her. He made a cameo in the fourteenth episode of the third season, aptly named “Prince,”where Deschanel’s Jess and Simone’s Cece receive an invitation to a party at the musician’s home.

In the podcast, costume designer Debra McGuire also validated that Prince participated in the show because of his crush on Simone. As previously mentioned, while the iconic singer made numerous attempts to meet her, Simone was clear that she wasn’t interested. She humorously remarked:

“It felt like a teenage boy showing up at my workplace, which was quite amusing.”

Additionally, Simone recounted a peculiar request from Prince: he enjoyed playing ping-pong with individuals he wanted to connect with on a deeper level. She noted:

“At 5 AM, they had to script a scene because they needed a way to fit the ping-pong into the episode. So, they added a tag where Prince could play ping-pong with me.”

The actress described filming the ping-pong scene as quite nerve-wracking, and it ultimately became the last scene shot for the episode. The show’s creators were understandably anxious that if the musician got his wish, he might decide to walk away, considering his legendary status. Hannah Simone recounted:

“We saved it for the end. One thing that stuck with me is: I don’t play ping-pong well. I was exhausted after more than 20 hours of filming, and I just swung hard.”

She added:

“My body just went like, ‘Let’s do this.’ And amusingly, he really did just leave afterward.”

Prince, the extraordinary musician known for his work on hits like Purple Rain, is often recognized as one of the most significant artists of his era. His illustrious career was decorated with an impressive collection of accolades, including seven Grammy Awards, two Academy Awards, and a Golden Globe. Tragically, he passed away in April 2016 at the age of 57 due to an accidental fentanyl overdose.

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