Lamorne Morris is enjoying a lot of firsts this season. Last month, he took home the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Emmy for his role as North Dakota Deputy Witt Farr on Fargo. In the new biopic Saturday Night, he’s starring as Garrett Morris, the first Black cast member on Saturday Night Live. The movie chronicles the 90 minutes before the 50-season-long late-night sketch comedy series premiered on television in 1975. And he’s about to play his first character in the Spider-Man universe in Prime Video/MGM+ ‘s upcoming series, Spider-Noire. Not bad for a man who once thought he’d have to leave the business.
“I went to LA and got broke, like as broke as broke can be,” he candidly shared with EBONY. “I tried to get back home. I didn’t have enough money for a plane ticket. My car was repoed. I wasn’t doing well.”
But empowering words from his mother, Gwennett Morris, kept him on the track. “She encouraged me, which is always a blessing to have parents that are really behind you, 100 percent. She sent me her tax returns,” he says. “She said, ‘You gonna make it work, you better figure it out.’ And I ended up using that money to ultimately book a commercial, which led to another commercial and another…When doubt’s creeping in, it’s about having good, supportive people around you to let you know that that’s not an option.”
The New Girl alum talks more about his Emmy win, staying true to his purpose and reveals where he’s keeping his shiny new Emmy.
EBONY: What went through your mind when you were announced as the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie winner at this year’s Emmys?
Lamorne Morris: I had multiple friends who had been nominated, and their advice to me was always to work on your loser face…the camera’s right there, waiting for your reaction, and you don’t want your face to show ungratefulness or disappointment. What I was gonna do was go the opposite and get really pissed off (laughs). I was gonna curse the camera out. If I’m gonna lose, you are gonna remember this moment.
That’s one approach!
That’s what I anticipated doing. So the first thing that went through my mind was, “Oh damn, I have to give a speech in front of Meryl Streep. Is that Martin Shorts right there? They are all these cool people. I was just a little nervous, but I was fine once I got up there. I just improvised. It was exciting.
Did you thank everyone you wanted to thank?
There were a few folks that [I missed,] but I’ve already thanked them. I had two phones and turned one of the numbers on, and I think I have 3000 missed text messages. I haven’t gotten back to them all yet, so to all the folks out there, I’m sorry. But for all out there texting me, how are you texting me without putting your name in the text? I haven’t talked to you in a certain amount of time. That probably means I don’t have your number saved. So, just to be clear, if we haven’t spoken in a while, put your name in the text. I’ve been writing back, “Who is this?” a thousand times, and I feel rude, but I wanna know who I’m texting!
This is a historic win for our community.
It’s cool whenever you’re a part of something that some people might call history; that’s just a cool accomplishment. But it also shows that it’s so strange when you have to label it as if we can’t do everything. We should be getting these opportunities across the board, no matter what. Fargo, in particular, race did have a little to do with [the storyline] because of its location. But I think [show creator] Noah Hawley did a good job of not dwelling on that, but you knew what the dynamic was. I’m this one Black trooper in a town where we got this white supremacist trying to take over. Noah did a good job of putting that out there without trying to hit you over the head with it.
In Saturday Night, you play Garrett Morris, who questions why he, a Julliard-trained accomplished theater writer, is part of this ensemble. What career moments have you questioned and overcome?
There were a lot of moments in my career when I questioned it. There are moments where I’ve been official and said I’m retiring, but I think that’s natural. On New Girl, I came on the show as a replacement for Damon Wayans Jr. The writing had been done for these characters for a long time. They had to figure out my character on the fly. It took a couple of seasons for us to get into a groove of who my character was. During that time, I thought I was going to get fired. I was like, “What am I doing here?” Garrett had a lot of that, too. He had all these strengths and abilities to do certain things and was very accomplished coming into SNL, but he didn’t know he had the creative license to go do it. Ultimately, the writers of New Girl were fantastic. They figured it out, and then the rest is history.
How did you prep to play Garrett? You have his laissez-faire attitude pegged.
He still has it! I’ve spoken to him many times now. Leslie Jones and I presented him with the Legacy Award at the American Black Film Festival. We got a chance to sit with him and have dinner; the man is sharp. He gets on stage and tells people that he might be my father. He’s a dynamic individual with a lot of history, memories and stories. When I spoke with him, he took the pressure off my shoulders to not have to do an impression of him [for Saturday Night]. He wanted me to convey to the audience that this was a tough time for him, and he was working his ass off; he was really trying and didn’t quit. Then, I just tied it into my own life and reality and the things that I went through. For his mannerisms, though, I grew up watching him on Martin and The Jamie Foxx Show. Whenever I saw him on TV, he had that old Black dude swag, like somebody’s always giving you advice, and you ain’t ask for it!
You’re about to bring Robbie Roberston of Spider-Man fame to life. Were you a fan as a kid?
I was a big fan of Marvel growing up. I used to read comics, and my cousins, my brother and I used to have trading cards. We would go back and forth with trading cards every weekend when we would meet up—I’ll give you a Colossus for a Silver Surfer. So, it’s exciting to be a part of the universe.
What lesson did you learn in college that has stuck with you?
I was at Second City the same time I was in college. I was in the training program. Dionna Griffin-Irons, who was the head of the diversity program there, discovered me when I was at the College of DuPage doing theater and asked me to come over. One of the things that she would constantly preach to me was that I would always have these questions about being on TV or film, and how do I get this and that? She would say, you’re gonna figure it out, but you should live in the moment and focus on the journey. The journey is where all the fun stuff is the people you meet along the way, the things you get to do, the ups and the downs. And she’s right. When I look back at some of the benchmarks that I’ve hit in my life, whether it be in my career—getting on a television show or doing a big movie, getting an Emmy—those things are all great, but then it goes away, meaning the moment is over, and you have to get back to work. So during that long stretch of work, you gotta be having fun.
And my last question, where do you keep your Emmy?
Everywhere I go! I didn’t bring it to New York, but if I’m in the bathroom, it’s right there with me. If I’m in bed, it’s right there. She got her own pillow and everything, you know? Gotta keep her comfortable.
Catch Morris in Saturday Night, now in theaters.
