The Office Season 8 Character Zooey Deschanel Almost Played
Zooey Deschanel almost joined The Office in season 8, and here is the character she likely would've played. Deschanel is now best known for playing Jessica Day on the comedy New Girl, which ran from 2011 to 2018. It was an incredibly successful role for the actress, as she even received an Emmy nomination for her performance. Before she landed the lead role on Fox's hit series, though, Zooey Deschanel was close to joining the cast of NBC's The Office for season 8.
It was first announced in early 2011 that Zooey Deschanel was going to work with Elizabeth Meriwether on New Girl, originally known as Chicks & Dicks. However, multiple trade reports revealed that she was considering taking a role opposite Steve Carell, John Krasinski, Rain Wilson, Jenna Fischer, and the rest of The Office's cast before she read New Girl's script. Zooey Deschanel has since confirmed that she was very close to appearing in The Office, and she even credits the show as opening her mind to doing a TV show like New Girl. Despite her openness about turning down a spot on The Office, she's never said what character she was close to playing.
Related: New Girl: Why Zooey Deschanel's Jess Left In Season 5
Based on the timing of New Girl's development and the state of The Office when Zooey Deschanel was nearly cast, it is quite easy to figure out the answer. Zooey Deschanel was going to play Cathy Simms in The Office season 8. Since Deschanel was in talks to join The Office in early 2011, that limits the possibility of her appearing to the end of season 7 at the earliest. There weren't any major new female characters introduced at that time, so it seems that she was being eyed early on to be Pam's replacement while she was on maternity leave. Once
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