‘New Girl’ star Hannah Simone likes to ‘treat the entire world like it’s my neighborhood’
Hannah Simone is best known for her role as Cece Parekh on the hit sitcom “New Girl,” playing a somewhat sardonic but good-natured model-turned-bartender. Of Indo-European descent, Simone has lived around the world, has worked for the United Nations and lives on the same Los Angeles street as the rest of her family, with whom she regularly gets together for lively dinners cooked in her open-plan kitchen. She shares her home with two cats and assists the Adopt a Shelter Cat movement, which revs up its efforts every June. Simone also recently executive produced an independent film, “Miss India America,” which is available on VOD platforms. When there’s a lull in her work schedule, she likes to do something unexpected -- like spend a month in Bhutan.
A hit sitcom means long days on set. Then there’s your love of travel and your other projects. How do you stay healthy?
I grew up in cultures where we walked a lot, so I still do that here. If I had a Fitbit I’d be clocking 50,000 steps a day. If you see a girl walking in L.A., it’s me. I don’t do it for fitness or health. I just like it. I also like to go to Shape House in Larchmont Village, just to sweat. I highly recommend it. It’s good to lie down for an hour without your phone or any distractions. And I love spin classes, being in a dark room, surrounded by a community of people and going for a ride. Once or twice I year I like to do the Clean Program by Dr. [Alejandro] Junger. It’s a great way to detox and reset. It’s incredible how much better your body feels when you’re nourishing it properly. In the beginning I might miss having a cup of coffee in the morning or a glass of red wine at dinner. But all the things you think you can’t do without – you can get through it just fine.
You’ve had an unusual upbringing, living in so many different countries. How has that shaped your outlook on life?
I was born in England, lived in Canada, moved to Saudi Arabia, left during the war, went to Cyprus, lived in India. I worked for the United Nations, based in London and Switzerland. I was a human rights and refugee officer and developed programs for youth. I like to treat the entire world like it’s my neighborhood. People look at my résumé and think I’m all over the place. ... But to me it all feels very linear. It’s part of the same world. Because of “New Girl” now I have a great platform which allows me to do something that gives back to this planet. I’m involved with Free the Children, a charity out of Canada. I really believe in travel and exploring new cultures and seeing how other people live.
Cooking is a big part of your life. What kinds of cuisines do you like to experiment with?
On a day-to-day basis, I love cooking. Because growing up we moved countries every few years, my cathartic thing now is to go to the grocery store and see what I’m in the mood for. It might be Indian or Italian or Cypriot. My comfort place in my home is the kitchen. My family all live on the same street, so everyone comes over and I cook and we all sit around and eat, mezze style. I’ll throw some halloumi cheese on the grill, and we’ll make my mom’s salad and we eat as we go. It’s not very formal. Everything is healthy and fresh and has lots of spice and flavor. And because we made it in my own kitchen, nobody has to worry about the other things that could be slipped in there.
And when you go out to eat?
The greatest thing about living in Los Angeles is that almost every restaurant now has healthy options. We’re so spoiled out here. It’s really not that difficult to eat great, healthy, delicious, fresh food that you can feel good about. The one big downfall is when I go back to Canada and I want poutine, which is basically cheese, gravy and French fries. It’s my weakness. Thankfully there aren’t a ton of poutine places in L.A.
How do you keep a calm state of mind in such a tough and unpredictable industry?
I believe that the more things you can love and enjoy, the better your life is. People show up in L.A. and tell me they want to be an actor and ask my advice, and I will always say the same thing: Love a lot of things. Enjoy and get fulfilled from different things. Don’t have all your eggs in one basket. In five years, I could be working for an NGO or doing theater for myself. I’m now happy being paid to be on a great show like “New Girl.” If you’re an actor, you can always act. There are community theaters everywhere, and if you really love to act, do that. If you’re an artist, you can paint by a lake or in a park, and that’s art. We have to genuinely find happiness in the things we love doing, whether we’re getting paid for it or not.
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