Taylor Swift: First Look at 'New Girl' cameo with Zooey Deschanel

Who’s that girl? It’s Swift!

For New Girl‘s relationship-centric May 14 finale, who better to cameo as a wedding guest than Taylor Swift (right, with star Zooey Deschanel) — the music megastar who wrote the (song)book on love, break-ups, and everything in between? Swift cameos as a woman named Elaine. Though showrunner Liz Meriwether remains coy about what exactly brings Elaine to the nuptials of Cece (Hannah Simone) and Shivrang (Satya Bhabha), she admits the casting was no coincidence. “I’m a huge fan of hers,” she says. “I was fully geeking out about meeting [Taylor]. I didn’t go to meet her right away because I kind of had to compose myself — there’s a 14-year-old girl inside of me.” Apparently the feeling was mutual, Meriwether recalls: “She was quoting lines to us from the show. It was a really exciting night.”

Star Jake Johnson notes that Swift was “very good,” and jokes that Swift’s triple threat status was “a little bit frustrating. She came in and is really nice. It’s not an easy scene. There were probably 70 extras there — though I’m sure she performs to so much bigger [crowds] than that on a regular basis. She had, like, a little monologue and delivered it perfectly. Liz gave her alternative jokes and lines, she delivered them all perfectly. It was frustrating!”

Meriwether also compliments Swift, saying, “She kind of came and nailed it. We love bringing in guest stars, but we really try to make it feel like they’re part of the show and it’s not just stunt casting.” After Meriwether & Co. have given her punchline shout-outs and featured her song “22” in previous episodes, this cameo brings the singer-songwriter full circle — with added value for fans of both: ”She did a little bit of a riff on one of her songs,” previews Meriwether.

Despite his teasing frustrations, Johnson might be the biggest Swift fan of all now. “The good news,” he says, “Max Greenfield and I have a production company called Jakey J. Maxie G 110 Percent Management. We take 35 percent ’cause we give you 110 percent, and Taylor Swift signed with us, so we’re not sweating it. We got all the money from her music and everything else. I’m not doing any work [now]. I’m not coming back [for season 3]. Like I’m going to stay [and] grind it out on Stage 18 at Fox — no! I’m going to ride Taylor Swift’s coattails to the bank!”

Let’s hope he’s kidding, Newbies.

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