'New Girl' Season Finale: Hannah Simone on Cece and Schmidt's Big Moment

Warning: This article contains character and storyline spoilers for the latest episode of New Girl.

New Girl Season 4 ended in tears — tears of joy, that is, after Schmidt (Max Greenfield) and Cece (Hannah Simone) got engaged. The moment capped off two seasons of “will-they-or-won’t-they” relationship angst; first, he wanted her, then she wanted him. (How very Friends.) But on Tuesday’s fourth-season finale, they confessed their love for each other, and Schmidt got down on one knee to propose. And just like his roommates — Jess (Zooey Deschanel), Nick (Jake Johnson), Winston (Lamorne Morris), and the departing Coach (Damon Wayans, Jr.) — fans at home breathed a sigh of relief.

Still, it was a long, obstacle-filled journey for these two. We gave Hannah Simone a call for a post-finale briefing, to hear her thoughts on the epic Cece/Schmidt love story, how their engagement will affect the loft, and the so-called “clean break” between Jess and Nick.

So, not only are Cece and Schmidt finally back together, but they’re engaged. What was it like for you reading that in the script?
I was excited! It was great news. I think we were all really excited that it finally happened. It’s been a lot of “will they, won’t they?” and them pining for each other while the other one isn’t really interested. So, it’s nice that it finally happened, and in a real way.

As a fan and viewer yourself, did you always hope they’d end up together?
I was rooting for them. I mean, you never know — we find out episode to episode what’s happening to our characters, so we live in the same world as our fans do. All we can do is hope that they find their way back to each other.

What do you think their engagement will be like?
I’m not sure! I’m sure it’s going to be weird. I hope that Schmidt stops crying all the time. We’ve seen Cece and Schmidt together before, but now, the world is their oyster as far as how weird and fun they can be together.

Their relationship hasn’t always been easy — what’s going to make it work this time?
I feel like the reason why people have responded so well to this show is that Liz [Meriwether, New Girl’s creator] has kept everything in a place of real emotional honesty. The thing I’ve loved so much about the Schmidt/Cece relationship is that it feels so real. It’s two people who have this complete surprise connection. At least, it was a very big surprise to me, that episode where they got together. I love the fact the they have a real physical chemistry, but that emotional intimacy was difficult for them. They had to deal with that when Schmidt broke his bits and pieces. Then, he made a big mistake and hurt her. I love the fact that Liz and the writers really made him earn her back and rebuild the trust and the friendship. They’re trying to make it work, and that’s believable. Nothing’s been rushed. I’m happy that it’s taken [almost] five seasons for these people who just met each other in the pilot — that seems like a normal growth curve for people in a relationship.

How will the vibe in the loft change now that they’re engaged?
I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but I would think that they’re going to get married, they’re going to live together. Personally as a fan, it always works best when everyone’s in the loft. But that’s also a very unique situation for them, like “we’re getting married and living here!” But it’s also reflective of modern-day relationships, where it’s expensive to go out and get your own place. So, they may end up living [at the loft]! I’m not sure.

Cece’s always been around, but will we get to see her interact with different characters more now?
It’s cool because we’ve already started shooting Season 5, in this new world of Schmidt and Cece being together. The storylines can change, so we can do different partnerships now. Cece has a really big storyline with Nick, which is fun. And she has another big storyline for Winston. It’s really great that she can explore her relationships with everyone else in the world, aside from Schmidt and Jess.

This finale explored the idea of a “clean break,” except it seems there’s no such thing — not for Cece and Schmidt, and possibly not for Jess and Nick. 
This is the beauty of Liz. I think Jess and Nick also have gone through so much. They will need time to figure out, honestly and in a way that’s believable and that people can relate to, if they belong together and if they can find their way back to each other. So, now they get the time to find out what’s best for them.

What else can we expect from Season 5?
It is really cool now that Cece and Schmidt are a team so we get to approach storylines that way, which is so nice after two seasons of pretending we don’t care for each other. Now, we’re this twosome force to be reckoned with, so that’s cool. The fact that Cece gets into storylines with other members of the cast has been really, really cool to explore. And we get to explore more of Cece’s family! They have to plan their engagement, so we get to see more into her world.

Oh, that’s interesting!
It was actually cool, I executive-produced this film called Miss India America, and I played this character in it, and we had to find someone to be my mom. So, when they were looking for my mom on New Girl, I was like, “Oh! We’ve already gone through a casting process and found the perfect woman!” She’s great at comedy and we look so similar and she’s so talented. Her name is Anna George, and she’s on New Girl as my mom!

New Girl Season 5 will premiere on Fox this fall.