Max Greenfield Confirms "New Girl" Reunion Is Happening: "I've Seen Scripts"

Max Greenfield says a “New Girl” reunion is moving forward and has gone as far as reading finished scripts, offering the most concrete confirmation yet of a project fans have chased since the sitcom ended in 2018.

Appearing Friday on “Today with Jenna & Sheinelle,” Greenfield, who played Schmidt across the show’s seven-season run, addressed lingering doubt about whether the reunion would actually happen. “As far as I know, it’s happening,” he said, pushing back on comments from series creator Elizabeth Meriwether, who had previously expressed uncertainty about whether the story had anywhere left to go. Greenfield dismissed that hesitation directly, saying he’d already seen the material and calling the scripts amazing.

“New Girl” ran on Fox from 2011 to 2018, following Zooey Deschanel’s Jessica Day as she moved into a Los Angeles loft with three men, Jake Johnson’s Nick Miller, Greenfield’s Schmidt and Lamorne Morris’s Winston Bishop, alongside Damon Wayans Jr. and Hannah Simone. The ensemble built a loyal following that has continued pushing for a follow-up in the years since the finale.

Greenfield’s update follows earlier comments from Johnson, who joked with Deadline that the full cast would return with one exception: Morris. Johnson claimed, in a bit clearly meant as ribbing, that Morris now considers himself above returning to a sitcom following his Emmy win for “Fargo,” urging fans to lobby Morris directly on social media. Morris has volleyed similar jokes back, telling Today that Johnson has changed since landing a role in the upcoming “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” franchise.

Despite the joking, the cast’s offscreen bond has stayed visible. Deschanel and Greenfield shared a surprise reunion moment onstage at last year’s SAG Awards, trading jabs about the years since they last saw each other while presenting an ensemble award. Johnson, reflecting separately on the show’s legacy, described the 15 years since the cast first met as feeling both distant and immediate, adding that the friendships from the series have stayed intact regardless of how much time has passed.