Lamorne Morris Reacts to His First Emmy Nomination and Reveals His Dream Role

Lamorne Morris knows firsthand that no job is truly easy. That's why he's partnering with Mike's Hard Lemonade for the interactive pop-up event "Mike's Jobstacle Course." In the immersive experience, people will get the opportunity to try out so-called "easy" jobs, only to find out they are anything but. The Mike’s Jobstacle Course will be located at 477 Broadway from 2-8 p.m. ET on August 20 in New York City.

As Lamorne himself says, the campaign is perfect for a partnership. Throughout his storied career that includes credits like New Girl and Woke, the actor has worked a variety of odd jobs, from a restaurant server to a video store clerk. And that diversity of resumé has also expanded to his on-screen credits as well. Lamorne deviated from his usual comic typecasting by appearing in Season 5 of FX's drama Fargo, which earned him his first Emmy nomination. He'll be appearing later this year in Jason Reitman's film Saturday Night, playing SNL original cast member Garrett Morris. And he's even dipped his toes into the world of superheroes, appearing in the upcoming Spider-Noir TV series starring Nicolas Cage.

Read on for our interview with Lamorne Morris, which talks about all of his upcoming projects, and what he hopes to do next.

Related: Everything to Know About Saturday Night, the SNL Biopic

To start, let's talk about your partnership with Mike's Hard Lemonade. As someone who has previously discussed working a number of odd jobs in the past, tell me what appeal you saw in the "Jobstacle Course."
Well, a lot of times when things come in, and you want to partner with a brand, or vice versa, it sometimes doesn't necessarily align with the way you live your life. And I remember getting a call about it, and thinking to myself, "Oh, this makes perfect sense." I've had plenty of jobs; I've had odd jobs. Even in the entertainment industry, I've had all types of roles, and I played type different types of characters. So it just made sense that at the end of a day, no matter how hard you work--you could have a two-hour shift, you could have a 16-hour shift--everybody deserves a bit of relaxation and a break. So the partnership just happened to make a lot of sense.

And the thing about the "Jobstacle Course" is that it has people trying a variety of jobs they had never experienced before. Which, to your point, seems to be something you've had experience in, both on and off screen.
I remember getting a job at Hollywood Video. And then I was like, "I don't know how this is gonna go. Do I know anything about video rentals? I know how to hit the 'free DVD' button." So whenever my friends would come in, I would just give them free movies. And I said to myself, "This is a good reward. This is a good reward for having this low-paying job." [Laughs.]

Well, let's talk about some of your projects that we're able to rent ourselves! Fargo was such a big experience for you in so many ways. What was it like to get brought onboard, and to then see all of the acclaim and Emmy nomination to boot?Yeah, a crazy time. Even in the beginning when I got the job, I was already a fan of the series. And to be a part of something with filmmakers of this caliber, the actors of this caliber, was unbelievable. And to get recognized for it, I mean, I still don't have the sentences to put it together to express how I'm feeling. I'm still living in it, and it's still very surreal. I'm just happy to be nominated with such a cool group of folks. I literally have a Robert Downey Jr. poster on my wall from Tropic Thunder. So I'm just thoroughly enjoying this moment in my life. And, hopefully, there's more to come. But, yeah, it's been a blessing.

Recently we saw the first trailer for Saturday Night, where you get the chance to play Garrett Morris. Did you consult with him at all while shooting?
It was an unbelievable experience. I mean, I did. That was one of the coolest parts of this entire project, was getting a chance to sit down with him and talk. We Zoomed a few times. We text back and forth a few times. Then I presented him an award at the ABFF. He was emotional that he was getting this honor, and that I was there, and that there was a movie where someone was portraying him, and it was a cool experience. Because, at the core, he just wanted me to tell the truth about what happened, and just to let the fans know and the audiences know that he didn't quit. Even though it was rough in the beginning for him, he pushed through. And now he's Garrett Morris!

Yeah, it's an interesting situation. As Garrett was the only Black cast member in those first five seasons, there's obviously a lot of stigma and biases that came with that. Was it difficult to be able to portray things that happened and were more normalized in the 1970s in the much more hyper-aware times of the 2020s?
It was a fine line to walk, because at its core, it's just the movie about these group of misfits coming together to try to make this show happen, the show that they didn't know what it consisted of, really. And so [with] Garrett, you have the backdrop of post-Civil Rights Movement, it's still a very racially charged time. The way he expressed it to me was not everybody was excited to see him. So the movie touches on that slightly. And we walk that line a little bit. And it was a tricky thing to navigate. Because Garrett himself is a very proud individual. And he has pushed through a lot of things, a lot of heavy, dark, racially charged, racist things back in those days and prior to it.

So him coming on to this show thinking, "This is just going to be a way for me to perform," he's trying to figure out his way, his path, and navigate through those tunnels. And then race pops up. And it's maybe not a safe place to perform, but, ultimately it was. But then, just like any job, I experience it. Folks experience it. It doesn't matter what group of folks you belong to; there's someone that is rooting against you purely on the basis of race, which is very silly to me. And so I could imagine it was only even heavier back in those days.

You're also getting to dip your toes into the superhero waters with your role on the upcoming Spider-Noir series. What has that been like?
So I can't tell you much, but I can tell you is it's starring Nick Cage. Man, I've always wanted to be a part of something like this, and to do it opposite Nick Cage is a dream come true. I got a chance to meet him once in a in a wardrobe fitting. And he radiates Nick Cage energy. And I loved every minute of it. And so I'm hoping we have a great shoot, and we've already started production here and there. We shot a couple days on it. It's going to be unlike anything you've seen.

As the name indicates, it's going to lean heavily on the film noir from 1930s. Which I would imagine, to your earlier point, is not necessarily something you're experienced in.
That's also tricky, too. You're in a noir. And are you playing it traditionally, the way we've seen noir done back in the day, or are we adding our own spin and twist to it? And I'll leave that up to the audience to figure out when they see it, without giving too much away. But it is a very unique blend, and I think people will really, really enjoy it. Even when you're on set shooting those days, working with, with Harry Bradbeer, who's directing the first few episodes. Fantastic director. And what I like about him was that he's very collaborative. Because we're all piecing it together, right? We're all figuring it out. And it was cool to see his mind operate, to see the showrunners and how they operate. It was just a cool setting to be in.

You've gotten to do so many different things as of late in your career. But what's the dream role that you haven't gotten to do yet?
Well, I've been lucky enough to be able to play different characters in all kinds of mediums. Hosting to acting, whether it be commercials or TV or film, I've got a chance to dabble in all kinds of spaces. I recently did a horror film called Night Shift, an indie film. Not a spoiler, I am not the bad guy. I would love to play some sort of psychopath in a horror thriller. I feel like people wouldn't see it coming necessarily. But although, now that I'm saying it, they will. [Laughs.] But that's something that I that I haven't been able to do that I know I'm more than capable of doing.

It's just like Noah Hawley. When Noah Hawley took a chance on me for Fargo, it was unlike anything he had seen me do before. But it wasn't about that. It was about getting a good sense of who that person is and what you're looking for in that character. And so for Fargo, for example, his thing was, "I needed someone kind. And when I thought of you, I thought, 'Oh, he's very kind; he's very trustworthy.'" And that's the energy that he saw when asking to play this character. Whether I want to be broad, whether I want to play it understated or subtle, we need to have that through line of kindness on this heroic journey. And so with a horror film, I'm just looking for that director. Give me a chance. Come on, M. Night!

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