Jake Johnson remembers working with “sweet kid” Olivia Rodrigo on ‘New Girl’

Jake Johnson has recalled being impressed with “sweet kid” Olivia Rodrigo when she made an appearance on New Girl.

• READ MORE: The NME Big Read – Olivia Rodrigo: “It’s important for me to be taken seriously as a songwriter”

The ‘Vampire’ singer-songwriter appeared in season six of the hit Fox sitcom in 2017, in an episode titled ‘Young Adult’. She played a student at Jessica Day’s (Zooey Deschanel) school called Terrinea, who’s a fan of roommate Nick Miller’s YA book The Pepperwood Chronicles.

Johnson recalled the now-pop megastar’s appearance on the show in an interview with Rolling Stone. “It was me, Zooey, and the girls, and they were such sweet kids,” he said. “And some kid actors are just good.”

He went on: “I remember doing those scenes, and Zooey and I used to have a joke that we were fake managers and how when a guest star would come on, one of the bits we would do with each other was that we 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. 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 also remembered watching the singer on Disney comedy Bizaardvark with his children, adding: “I remember being like, ‘I knew that fucking kid was good!’”

The actor said that he’s since “gotten really into her albums because I’ve got 10-year-old girls so I’ve heard ‘em all, I was like, “What a blast!”

He also remembered Taylor Swift‘s cameo in the season two finale ‘Elaine’s Big Day’, saying that she was “already a whole thing”. He added: “When she was in the hair and makeup trailer, we couldn’t believe she was doing our show. When she was on the set, the air changed. She was an air-changer.”

Last month, Rodrigo was nominated for six Grammy Awards. She’s in the running for: Album Of The Year (‘Guts’), Record Of The Year (‘Vampire’), Song Of The Year (‘Vampire’), Best Pop Solo Performance (‘Vampire’), Best Pop Vocal Album (‘Guts’) and Best Rock Song (‘Ballad Of A Homeschooled Girl’).