For his Emmy Award-winning performance as Deputy Witt Farr in “Fargo,” Lamorne Morris underwent a complete physical transformation. In his latest role, he is much closer to himself.
The Chicago-born actor plays Garrett Morris (no relation) in “Saturday evening” the feature film directed by Jason Reitman on the birth of “Saturday Night Live”, released October 11. The elder Morris was the first black actor on the legendary sketch comedy series – an experience the younger Morris identified with.
While playing the only black lead role on the sitcom “New Girl,” he told the Washington Post In an interview published Tuesday, fans often told him, “Oh, I know that show. You’re the black guy.
Lamorne Morris joined the cast of “New Girl” shortly after Damon Wayans Jr., who played Coach in the series pilot, left due to scheduling conflicts. Early in production, the newcomer was often frustrated by the writers’ hazy vision for his character, Winston Bishop – which he found difficult to believe was not personal.
“The first two years of ‘New Girl,'” he told the Post, “I was like, ‘What am I doing?'”
THE “I woke up” The star said he imagined his character on “Saturday Night” asking himself the same question a half-century ago, the night “SNL” debuted. Garrett Morris, then a 37-year-old playwright and singer, was decades older than most of his castmates — and was the only black member of the show’s creative team.
“With ‘Saturday Night Live,’ all of a sudden I was representing black people,” Garrett told Lamorne in a Variety interview published on Saturday. This conversation was not the first between the two men, as despite the wishes of “Saturday Night” director Jason Reitman, they were in contact before filming even began.
“Jason didn’t want us to contact the real actors. His thing was, you’re an actor. You already know what to do,” Lamorne Morris said. “But I called Garrett anyway.”
Over several subsequent phone and Zoom calls, the two learned they “shared a very, very similar walk,” he said.
In Reitman’s words, the “Fargo” actor was “born to play this role.”
“Lamorne just inherently understood this search for identity that Garrett was going through,” the director told the Post, adding that Morris brought a sincerity to his portrayal that made it one of the most compelling character arcs in the movie.
Fortunately for the actor, who, as a child, admired Garrett Morris so much that he used to tell people they were relatedhis performance also landed with the “SNL” alum himself.
Watching the film, Garrett Morris said, was “a very cathartic experience.”
