Former Toronto resident Hannah Simone is the best friend every woman dreams about. At least, she is if she’s anything like the character she plays on Citytv’s hit sitcom New Girl, which has its season finale tonight (May 8).
As Cece Meyers, Simone is the tough-talking, street-smart childhood best friend to Zooey Deschanel’s fun-loving, offbeat character, Jess.
“What I love about this show is I think a lot of times on TV women are pitted against each other, but that’s not real life,” Simone says. “I love that this show is honest about this — I’m a good friend to my best friends. These are the people who will be there for you at four in the morning when you say ‘I need your help.’”
New Girl has been a hit with audiences here and in the States and was recently renewed for a second season on Fox. It follows the life of Jess who, after leaving a bad relationship, moves in with three single men to start anew. Simone’s character, a model and the only other female lead, balances out Jess’ quirkiness with her savvy demeanour.
Simone says Cece and Jess’ relationship resembles friendships she has in her own life: “She [Cece] tries to push Jess out of her comfort zone, and friends do that with each other.”
And she credits her interpretation of the character as an astute, modern woman rather than a “TV model” with landing her the gig. “That was a choice,” she says. “I know a few fashion models, and they are smart, savvy, well-travelled women not phased by men.”
Nomadic spirit
No doubt Simone’s character development was helped by her own background as an educated and worldly person. “My family moved countries every three or four years,” she says. “I’m someone who feels comfortable when everything is changing.”
She was born in London, England, and her father is of Indian descent; her mother is half German-Italian and half Greek-Cypriot. Simone first moved to Canada with her family at the age of one, settling in Calgary until she was six. She lived in Saudi Arabia for several years until the first Gulf War broke out and, later, in Cyprus and then India. She says her family’s frequent uprooting can only be explained by a pervasive “nomadic spirit.”
Wherever they travelled, Simone always found herself involved in a drama club because it was a fast way to meet people and make friends.
She also found plenty of encouragement through the many acting teachers with whom she worked. “I remember telling my music teacher in Cyprus, ‘I want to be an actor when I grow up,’ and instead of crushing my dreams, she said, ‘You need to be a triple threat.’ All of my theatre teachers were like that, even though they knew I had a one-in-a-million chance,” Simone says.
But before pursuing her acting dream full on, Simone earned a degree in international relations and political science from the University of British Columbia and worked as a researcher for a book by Canada’s former minister of foreign affairs, Lloyd Axworthy. She also worked at the United Nations Association in London, England, as a human rights and refugee officer.
It didn’t take her long, though, to get back on track and pursue an education that would go hand in hand with an acting and broadcasting career. Accepted into Ryerson University’s radio and television arts program, Simone moved to Toronto where she finally gained professional on-camera experience.
“Toronto was the city that always said yes, and I will always be grateful for that,” Simone says.
โI hadn’t realized how coveted a VJ spot was’
In Toronto, things seemed to fall into place fast. While at Ryerson, she was an on-air host for the campus radio station. She quickly found an agent and booked her first audition, spending a year travelling the globe as the host of HGTV’s home makeover show Space for Living.
Back in Toronto, Simone joined a group of Ryerson friends on their way to an open casting call for a MuchMusic VJ. She landed the gig after a one-minute interview armed with only a snapshot of herself and a printout of her theatre experience.
“Everyone else was there with head shots and resumés — I hadn’t realized how coveted a VJ spot was,” she says.
After hosting Much News Weekly and the music/pop culture show The New Music, Simone decided it was time to try her luck in Hollywood and, in 2008, she moved to Los Angeles.
“I have a very curious nature and the idea of moving to L.A. and giving it a shot was something I wanted,” she says. “There was a freedom in that for me — I just wanted to know.”
Simone found work quickly, hosting the reality TV gaming show WCG Ultimate Gamer on Syfy for two seasons. Now on New Girl, Simone says it’s been an exciting change from being a TV presenter to inhabiting a character and trying out her comedy chops.
A different director takes the helm for each new episode, so the atmosphere is always fresh. Plus, the small cast of five leading actors has become close, she says, which makes it a more comfortable environment in which to try comedy. “We care about each other and we care about the show,” she says. “I feel so lucky.”
She says she feels fulfilled working on New Girl and doesn’t feel restless to relocate like she has in the past. For now, she says, she’s staying put to see what else will come her way.
“The great thing about this character [Cece] is she gets to do crazy and wild things, and that was the change and challenge I craved when I moved around,” she says. “Now I can have that experience in a job and that’s the dream for me.”
New Girl Season Finale, May 8, 9 p.m., Citytv
