How SUPERSTORE Nabbed That Unexpected Emily Deschanel Cameo

As the Cloud 9 employees were faced with learning a new company app in SUPERSTORE’s “Employee App,” the characters were delighted by one reveal: an audiobook of the CEO’s autobiography, which was read by Emily Deschanel.

“I’m a total BONEShead,” Sandra (Kaliko Kauahi) enthused. And Sandra didn’t waste any time downloading the audiobook, as Deschanel read the intro to the book—”Who Run the World? Me”—and the start of the Zephra CEO’s story.

So how did Deschanel—who had done previous voiceover work on THE SIMPSONS, AMERICAN DAD, and THE CLEVELAND SHOW—come to be on the show? Series creator Justin Spitzer—who returned to the comedy to make his directorial debut (he’s also working on a new NBC pilot AMERICAN AUTO)—explained via email how it went down…

What led to Emily Deschanel’s brief voice cameo on the show? Were there any other names debated before landing on her?
Emily’s husband (David Hornsby) used to wait tables with my wife (Jenna Bans) at a Mexican restaurant in Manhattan called Santa Fe. And we’re all friends to this day. So when we were trying to think of a celebrity to read the CEO’s autobiography, I suggested Emily and the room liked it. So then I texted Emily and offered her this role of a lifetime. Actually, it was more like I begged her to drive all the way across town to say two sentences in a sound booth, but she was cool and agreed.

(Sidenote: David recurs on Jenna’s show, GOOD GIRLS. It’s really just a scheme to make couple’s dinners tax-deductible.)

In terms of other names, I had at first forgotten that it had been established that the CEO was a woman, so my initial suggestion was Rainn Wilson. [Spitzer previously was a producer on THE OFFICE.] That’d have been fun too, but it’d have been weird to have a male reading a female’s autobiography.

The show has always been great about threading long-running jokes where you least expect it. Will she or the audiobook be popping up again?
I’m not running the show anymore, so I can’t answer that. But I think it’d be really funny if it got called back at some point. Should we see if we can get #BringBackEmily trending?

What was it like being back at the show in a very different capacity?
It was a lot of fun. Not the directing part itself – this was my first time directing, and it turns out that directing is really stressful and hard, and it requires you to make lots of quick decisions, and I’m more of a let’s-talk-this-situation-out-for-an-hour-and-try-it-all-ways kind of person. But it was fun getting to spend time on set with the actors and the crew. When I was the showrunner, I’d come down to set to watch a take or greenlight a change, but I was always rushing back to the writers offices, I never got to just hang out. And it was nice having this tremendously warm group of professionals, who I’ve worked with for the last four years, there to support me and tell me when I was screwing something up.

Is there anything you can share about your favorite/most memorable part of directing the episode?
Because it was my first time directing, I kept getting to the ends of takes and waiting around for the director to yell “Cut!”, before remembering that that was my job. We have lots of footage of confused actors standing there for long, silent beats, before finally hearing my voice shouting, “Oh s—, right, sorry, cut!” 

SUPERSTORE, Thursdays, 8/7c, NBC

RELATED:

• SUPERSTORE: ‘Zephra Cares’ Photos
• SUPERSTORE: Kris Lefcoe Reflects on Making Her Directorial Debut with ‘Cereal Bar’
• NBC Renews SUPERSTORE
• The SUPERSTORE Cast Teases Sandra and Jerry’s Wedding
• The SUPERSTORE Cast Previews a Tribute to Linda Porter’s Myrtle
• SUPERSTORE Bosses Dissect Cloud 9’s Big Union Move
• SUPERSTORE Cast, Creative Team Mourns Linda Porter
• SUPERSTORE Creator Explains the Show’s Unconventional Original Title
• SUPERSTORE’s Nico Santos Reflects on the ‘Difficult,’ ‘Triggering’ Season 4 Finale
• Inside SUPERSTORE’s Cloud 9 Pop-Up at Comic-Con
• On the Set of SUPERSTORE: Check Out Props and Costumes from the Comedy’s History
• SUPERSTORE: Colton Dunn Crashes Ben Feldman’s Interview

Follow @GiveMeMyRemote and @marisaroffman on Twitter for the latest TV news. Connect with other TV fans on GIVE ME MY REMOTE’s official Facebook page.

And be the first to see our exclusive videos by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases made through links/ads placed on the site.