Jake Johnson

Jake M. Johnson did the hard grind of stand-up and improvisational comedy from Chicago to New York to Los Angeles, eventually finding a groove with one of Hollywood's edgier comedy cliques and landing on Fox's breakout sitcom, "The New Girl" (2011- ). A Chicago-area native, Johnson passed through some of live comedy's best renowned institutions, including Second City and the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York and L.A. In 2007, he landed his first regular television job with the short-form TBS comedy "Derek and Simon: The Show" (2007). He appeared in a sequence of oddball and meta-inclined comedies, developing a rep as a scene-stealer in films such as "Paper Heart" (2009), "Ceremony" (2010), "No Strings Attached" (2011) and "A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas" (2011), and taking leads in light, well-regarded movies such as "Spilt Milk" (2010) and the Sundance favorite "Safety Not Guaranteed" (2012). In 2011, Johnson landed a regular gig as one of a trio of wisecracking young men who welcome daffy new roommate Zooey Deschanel into the fold on the sitcom "New Girl," which became the new hot ticket on the Fox Network. With just a single season on this primetime TV hit, Johnson had established himself as one of Hollywood's hottest talents to watch.