Jake Johnson Talks Bad Advice, 'New Girl' Memories & Why He Doesn’t Want to Talk to Famous People

During the strike, New Girl and Minx star Jake Johnson and his friend, comedian Gareth Reynolds, decided they wanted to dole out advice to regular people who need advice. So, they decided to start a podcast, which soon became, “We’re Here to Help.” Climbing quickly to the top of podcast charts, their show allows people to call in and get help with every day, but also unique and memorable problems. The tag line: “Free advice that feels free.” In a recent podcast interview, Johnson shared why he loves chatting with people about their problems, who gives the best advice in his family, plus he took a walk down memory lane to share stories of his castmates, Zooey Deschanel, Lamorne Morris, Max Greenfield, all of whom have made cameos on his podcast. He talks about which of his castmates gave him the most helpful career advice, his 7-year friendship with Deschanel, and when they realized how important and popular their New Girl couple was to the show and audience. In fact, they actually modeled elements of Nick and Jess after famous couples from other shows, including The Office and Cheers. Johnson also revealed why he does not want to talk to famous people on his podcast.

Although Johnson has had his New Girl castmates on his podcast to help dish out advice, when asked who his dream guest caller might be, perhaps former President Barack Obama, Johnson says, “So, I’m not interested in celebrities calling in. I love that it’s regular people. I think (they’re) so fascinating and so funny. Their stories, I’m really interested in. I love when I’m doing the podcast with Gareth and a random person pops on our zoom and we start hearing their story… The part of it, why I want to be in my closet recording this, is I like talking to strangers.” Out of context, that statement might be concerning! But Johnson and Reynolds offer a space for people to call in with often hilarious problems, and offer advice that ranges from good to bad, to ridiculous, and everything in between.

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Morris’s advice in one particular stand out episode was off the rails and brilliant, when a woman called in and said she was house sitting for her friends, and got caught doing something she felt was embarrassing on their petcam, which she then threw out the window. You’ll have to listen for yourself to see what happened. As for who in the New Girl cast was the best at advice giving, Johnson calls out two cast members in particular. The first, his co-star Deschanel. “In terms of business, Zooey was always the smartest. I don’t have anything that jumps out because it was seven years together. When we first started that show, she and I both realized that the Nick and Jess storyline was really important to the show. And we used to call after work – you know, all of us had been friends right from the beginning. You know Zooey and I would finish a day of work, and we would talk as we were driving home. And a lot of those conversations were talking about what have other TV couples that we liked, what were they doing? We talked about Jim and Pam (The Office), we talked about Sam and Diane (Cheers), we talked about what’s fun about that stuff. But she had more of an expertise that she’d been in the business, and I did feel way newer.” Was Johnson the real New Girl? Cue dramatic music.

Anyone who watched New Girl can tell you that Nick and Jess quickly joined the ranks of Jim and Pam and other popular TV couples. But how about Ross and Rachel? Did they inspire Deschanel and Johnson? “It might have been more her (Deschanel), Friends wasn’t a show that I’d watched,” Johnson confesses, “so I don’t know the references to that as well. I mean I know all the characters, I don’t live under a rock!”

Deschanel wasn’t the only one who helped Johnson. “In terms of how to do television network acting, Max Greenfield was the one who helped me the most,” Johnson recalls. He shares that their group continues to be tight knit. “All of us, you know, we’re still buds, we took a hike the other day, we’re still kind of picking each other’s brains.”

Since Johnson loves talking to people and helping them navigate their problems, he reveals that his artist mother was the one who gave the best, most helpful advice growing up. ”My mother, she’s like a weird kind of witch doctor in a way. She’s an outside the box thinker, she’s a very unique human…. My mom is somebody that if you give her the whole picture, she’ll give advice that you’ll go like, ‘I don’t know how you got to the center of it but it’s true.’” A witch doctor? What now? Johnson laughs that his mom used to make (health food) potions, and when one friend had a foot problem, she made him a lotion from scratch that healed him. Potions and lotions, and advice to boot. Sounds like a good witch to have around. Johnson specifies she was making health food potions, like smoothies. “When I was a kid, she’d make these smoothies, they had like eggshells in it, one of them had sticks in it where you’re like what is this madness?  And then as I’ve gotten older, deeper into the LA culture, some health guru will say, ‘Yeah it’s the egg shells!’ My mother was doing this in ’85, and I called her a maniac for it, and now you cool hunks are doing it in man buns.”

Johnson is also a father to 10-year-old twin girls. He opens up about his family life. As a father, “the only advice I would give, it goes fast. Try to enjoy as much as you can. Especially with twins at the beginning, it’s so brutal the first 2.5 years, they’re just babies, they have all their needs. Then when they hit a certain age, it gets easier because they have each other, too.” Johnson admits, “There are gigs I’ve passed on, I stay local, one of the things that I look for in a job is where it shoots…. Even in doing that, it’s going so fast, I’m afraid I’m going to blink my eyes, and they’re going to be in college.”

Johnson and Reynolds are continuing to be the best free advice givers in the podcast world. Check out “We’re Here to Help,” or you can even call in with a problem. One question remains, if Barack Obama does call in with a problem, will Johnson hang up on or help him? Time will tell. Johnson also can be seen in Minx on Starz.

Before you go, check out the all-time best ‘Outlander’ episodes you need to watch.

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