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'There weren't South Asian actresses in main cast roles': Hannah Simone on Cece Parekh and life after New Girl

Actor Hannah Simone talks about playing Cece on New Girl, and discusses her new role in the upcoming reboot of The Greatest American Hero.
CBC Radio ·
Actor Hannah Simone of the television show New Girl speaks onstage during the FOX portion of the 2018 Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena on January 4, 2018 in Pasadena, California. (Getty Images)

Look at most network television sitcoms or dramas and you can easily spot the best friend. They're usually written to show you a different side of the main character or to help save the day — think Anne Shirley's bosom buddy Diana, or Meredith Grey's best friend, Cristina Yang on Grey's Anatomy. Rarely, do these characters ever get their due.

"There weren't South Asian actresses in main cast roles," says Hannah Simone, who avoided that plight by playing the headstrong and hilarious Cece to Zooey Deschanel's Jess on New Girl, which is now in its final season. Simone talks to guest host Gill Deacon about how she never thought she would get the role, and discusses her new role in the upcoming The Greatest American Hero reboot, which, if the pilot gets picked up, would make her TV's first female Indian-American superhero.

— Produced by Elaine Chau and Jean Kim

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