I moved to Los Angeles in January 2004 because a buddy of mine, who I met at a friend's wedding, said he could get me a room in his apartment for $500 a month. I took it thinking that it would probably only be about six months before I moved back to Chicago, but I fell in love with it.
Jake Johnson
I had a lot of bad jobs but the one big internship I had is I interned for 'SNL' when I was 21 years old and that was the joke. You intern there and you think man, I'm going to be with the writers and the great comedians. Then you're getting everybody sandwiches and then the doors close and then all the great creatives are doing the work.
I like pizza and I like cheeseburgers a lot and I like Chicago food a lot.
My big break was really Liz Meriwether saw me in a movie called 'Paper Heart' and really liked it, and then saw me in a movie called 'Ceremony' because she knew Max Winkler and said, 'I want you to be in 'No Strings Attached,' but you gotta audition for it.' From that it was easier for her to get me in 'New Girl.'
Always take your own path. And do what feels right for you.
I was an out-of-work actor for 10 years.
There are some similarities, I think, with all the characters I play. I'm not a guy who sees the desire to transform with each part; I'm not a piece of clay.
Bob Dylan, I'd say, is probably my favorite musician.
I have a group of friends that I'm pretty sentimental about.
I prefer to work with first-time directors.
First, I wanted to be Chris Farley. When I was growing up, Chris Farley was still on the stages and fun to us. In my house, John Belushi was king. I didn't grow up when he was - I was born in '78 - the reruns of Belushi in 'Animal House,' and knowing he was at Second City, he was viewed as a king in my house.
There were two paths I was on: pre- and post-meeting my wife. I wanted to be an actor, but I didn't have headshots until I met her.
In L.A., if you're in improv, and you're on those stages, all the big agents and managers and producers are watching those shows. They're not flying to Chicago to see the show. People are booking jobs off the stages in L.A. who aren't more talented than the guys in Chicago. But the most guys book out of L.A., and the second is New York.
My brother was an improviser. He's now a lobbyist, but he used to perform improv in the city when he was in high school, and one of the funniest guys I know to this day.
I would want to go to the future, 25 years in the future, and see if the Cubs ever win a World Series.
When you do a Tom Cruise movie, you don't do a Tom Cruise movie and ask a lot of questions.
People ask me, 'Did you ever want to be a live-action Peter Parker?' Are you kidding me? These actors live in a gym and wear really uncomfortable tights for 14 hours a day. And it's not like you're doing some very fun acting. Shooting is a real drag. Then you do press for five months? I don't think I could get it.
Sometimes, when you work with directors who have done it a lot and are established in the business and know the game, there are all these rules that they have. First-time directors will allow you to come in with choices. They're not so jaded by actors that they're like, 'Ugh, just do your job, man.'
If I took over the 'Glamour' offices for a day, I would put Joe Pesci on the cover. I would say 'We've got to change all these magazines a little bit. We have to bring out a different version of what is, like, cool. You know, what's winning. Joe Pesci, Burt Reynolds.'
I'll be honest, I like shooting 'New Girl.' I like the people. The show is still new to me. I've never done TV like this before.
My dream career would be to be in things that have real heart and are telling real stories but while doing that, you're getting really big laughs. I don't necessarily love the straight crazy comedies. 'Caddyshack' is amazing, but there's not a lot of new 'Caddyshack's.
I was really into classifieds for awhile. I'm a big negotiator. My father owned a car dealership when I was younger... it's just in my blood.
I always thought, if you're gonna do TV, you want to play a straight, solid, pillar-of-the-show kind of guy.
I'm a grinding actor. That's how I've always viewed myself. You go from one job to the next.
I feel like L.A. is more of a showcase, and Chicago is a pure comedy scene where you're doing comedy for comedy. You're doing comedy actually for the audience that's there.
I love when people on Twitter give advice.
I knew I wanted to be an actor for a long time, but I was based out of Chicago and then I went to New York and I did 'The Upright Citizens Brigade' out there. I had a two-man show with a guy named Oliver Ralli who's now in the band Pass Kontrol, which is a big band out of New York.
I did about 10-12 national commercials and then got one line parts in things like 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' and the show 'The Unit.' Got a little part in the movie 'Redbelt' by David Mamet and kept slowly grinding up and then started getting bigger parts in independents and getting noticed by Liz Meriwether.
You know, what 'New Girl' is doing is they're bringing in really cool people. These are home-run people who aren't your typical guest-star-type people.
You know, I'll tell you, nothing changed after 'No Strings' for me. A lot of people said, like, 'Your game will be different,' but it wasn't. It really wasn't.
Alex Kurtzman - he's one of the nicest guys.
I've been a fan of Prince my whole life.
I think that Zoe Kazan is an unbelievable talent.
I've got a theory with each character I play. Regardless of the actions that they do, I, as Jake, have to like these people. And I have to say, 'I wouldn't mind hanging out with this guy for an hour and a half.'
When people do get to see each other and know each other more - you'll see it in New York, all these cultures are together - other cultures become far less scary and less foreign to you.
When I was growing up, I used to love television. TV was everything. And it was a real connector for my family.
What attracted to me about it was the cast. Working on 'New Girl' - I like working with an ensemble.
Zooey Deschanel loves music, loves musical theater, loves the show of it.
I've been lucky enough to have a lot of romantic leads in movies and indies, and you do form a different kind of connection when you do that together as actors.
I'm a family man. I like being home.
I don't really party. I'll occasionally have a drink.
If you'll see on my social media, I'm never going to get political. I do think there's something about entertainers where it's nice where you just get entertainment.
If I were a teacher, I would like to teach freshman English - so I could be the Robin Williams type in 'Dead Poets Society.'
I wanted to be a second baseman for the Chicago Cubs. Problem is that my athletic abilities in my mind are greater than what my body can accomplish.
I think you can meet the right girl at the wrong time, and it gets screwed up. If you meet the right girl at the wrong time, that girl has to be the most understanding person in the world because there's going to be a lot more bumps in the road.
My wife doesn't drink. I don't think a girl's desire to drink or not has any effect on guys. At all.
