Jake Johnson is Chapman’s favorite New Girl as UPB’s Fall Speaker
Chapman students gathered in Musco Center for the Arts on Sept. 15 for an interview with ‘New Girl,’ ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse’ and ‘Minx’ star Jake Johnson, who was also the University Program Board’s 2023 fall speaker. Photo by EMILY PARIS, PHOTO EDITOR
Senior creative producing major Brady Francisco doesn’t kiss and tell.
As a moderator during an interview with Chapman University Program Board’s 2023 Fall Speaker Jake Johnson, the two shared a bit of sarcastic flirting. As Johnson explained how he improvised a kiss with Zooey Deschanel in “New Girl,” Francisco pulled out a pen and took notes. Francisco really put the icing on the cake when he asked Johnson to give some on-screen kissing pointers. Instead of telling, Johnson walked over to Francisco and gave him a surprising smooch in front of nearly 1,000 students.
“You can go on record with this statement: I don’t kiss and tell,” Francisco told The Panther. “I didn’t go into this thinking he would kiss me. I came up with the idea of introducing him as ‘The Most Kissable Man In Hollywood’ because I thought it was a fun thing to do, and he really went along with it, and I’m glad he had fun.”
Fans of “New Girl,” “Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse” and “Minx” gathered in the Musco Center for the Arts on Sept. 15 for an evening with Johnson. The conversation was moderated by Francisco and Cora Synnes, a junior public relations and advertising major. Johnson is the second “New Girl” cast member to grace the stage after Max Greenfield was the fall speaker last year and hopefully not the last. Throughout the night, Johnson shared stories about his early days acting, a new surge of fans during the pandemic and why he is honored to play the role of Peter B. Parker in the “Spiderverse” series.
Johnson reflected back to his days in college, explaining that he and his friend would book stages in New York City, put fliers up around town and pray that people would show up and watch them perform. When they got to the theater, no one was there. Yet, they acted their hearts out like it was a full house. They committed 100%, even if no one was there to laugh at their jokes. Looking back, he thinks his younger self would be proud of where he ended up.
“I’m still committed to the thing that I loved then, so my 18-year-old self would say, ‘Yeah man, keep going as long as they let you,’” Johnson said.
The event was moderated by senior creative producing major Brady Francisco and junior public relations and advertising major Cora Synnes.
Like many people during the COVID-19 pandemic, audiences turned to streaming services and binging television shows as the primary form of time-wasting entertainment. The audience was full of students who were either first-time viewers or chronic re-watchers of “New Girl” during quarantine. “New Girl” ran for seven seasons and was canceled by Fox in 2018. The resurgence of its popularity during the pandemic has brought a whole generation back into the lives of five weirdly relatable flatmates and the nutty situations they get themselves into.
“It was such a dark and weird time to honestly have a new and younger generation find the show and love it and say it was bringing them joy — because we got canceled,” Johnson said. “And then the pandemic happened, and a whole new group of people found it, so not just to me, but the whole cast. We text a lot, and it meant a lot to all of us.”
No one could have predicted the popularity of “Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse.” When Johnson was brought on to play the Peter B. Parker version of Spiderman, nothing could have prepared him for the widespread love and admiration for the film and its sequel. Creator Phil Lord wanted his version of Spider-Man to be as if it was an independent movie — a non-traditional Marvel character.
“(Peter B. Parker) was just a dude,” Johnson said at the event. “He wasn’t sure if he wanted to be Spider-Man anymore, and that was really exciting for me.”
During filming, Johnson didn’t think much about the impact the film would have on so many young people worldwide. He knew the material was good, and he was excited to work with Shameik Moore, who voices Miles Morales. When it was released, the realization of its impact kicked in.
“There were a lot of younger people who had seen themselves as Spider-Man for the first time. There were a lot of people of color who would come up to Shameik and talk about how much that meant and how much Spider-Gwen meant to them. There are a lot of people who were seeing themselves as a spider-person in a way that’s neat. Playing Peter just felt like, ‘Well, I’m glad I’m at this party too.’”
“There were a lot of younger people who had seen themselves as Spider-Man for the first time.” Johnson said at the event. “There were a lot of people of color who would come up to Shameik and talk about how much that meant and how much Spider-Gwen meant to them. There are a lot of people who were seeing themselves as a spider-person in a way that's neat. Playing Peter just felt like, ‘Well, I’m glad I’m at this party too.’”
Francisco has been a fan of Johnson’s work since first watching “New Girl” in high school and has been closely following his recent work. It has been his go-to comfort show ever since. Francisco was a tiny bit nervous to meet one of his favorite actors, but he came up with one of the most heartfelt questions of the night.
After being asked, “What do you want your legacy to be as an actor?” Johnson's response was something out of a movie.
“Just like the people I watched in entertainment when I was coming up — and why I'm still doing it — I just want to be entertained,” Johnson said. “I want to have some fun. I want to have some laughs. I’d like to be remembered for having people say, ‘I enjoyed watching that guy's stuff. It brought me some joy.’”
“Just like the people I watched in entertainment when I was coming up — and why I’m still doing it — I just want to be entertained. I want to have some fun. I want to have some laughs. I’d like to be remembered for having people say, ‘I enjoyed watching that guy’s stuff. It brought me some joy.’”