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Jake Johnson
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According to Jake Johnson, he always knew Olivia Rodrigo‘s career was a good idea, (right?).
Speaking with Rolling Stone, the actor opened up about working with the Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter on New Girl, years prior to launching her music career and an impending world, per Entertainment Weekly.
Rodrigo appeared in Season 6 of the Critics’ Choice award-winning FOX sitcom, per IMDb, as a student at the school where Jessica Day (Zooey Deschanel) teaches, and who is a fan of Nick Miller’s (Johnson) novel, The Pepperwood Chronicles.
“I remember her and those girls,” Johnson shared. “It was me, Zooey, and the girls, and they were such sweet kids. And some kid actors are just good.”
He revealed an on-set joke between he and Deschanel in which they acted as “fake managers” whenever guest stars arrived, and “would playfully compete over who’s gonna sign them.”
“And Zooey’s bit was always that she’s a sweet manager who takes 10 percent, and I’m a little bit of an asshole who tries to take 25 percent,” he explained. “And I remember when Olivia Rodrigo and those girls were on, I was for sure trying to scoop them up because I was like, ‘There’s money in these kids!’ They were just good actors.”
Johnson, who is now a father to ten-year old twins Elizabeth and Olivia, then remembered watching Rodrigo star on the Disney Channel series Bizaardvark, which aired from 2016-2019.
“I remember being like, ‘I knew that fucking kid was good!'” he exclaimed.
He even has “gotten really into her albums” after “she really blew up,” once again crediting his daughters for the exposure to her work.
“So I’ve heard ’em all, I was like, ‘What a blast!'” he told the outlet.
Johnson also discussed Taylor Swift‘s Season 2 appearance, noting that in comparison to Rodrigo, “she was already a whole thing” by the time she stepped foot on set.
“When [Swift] was in the hair and makeup trailer, we couldn’t believe she was doing our show,” he gushed. “When she was on the set, the air changed. She was an air-changer.”
