Four years after New Girl ended its seven-season run, Emmy nominee Zooey Deschanel is finally making her TV acting comeback with the Apple TV+ series Physical. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Deschanel has signed on for the series regular role of Kelly in the upcoming third season of the Rose Byrne-led comedy-drama. Her character is described as a “network sitcom star who decides to enter the burgeoning 1980s fitness industry — which will bring her into the world inhabited by Byrne’s Sheila Rubin.
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Besides Physical Season 3, Deschanel will next be seen in two upcoming films — the biographical drama Dreamin’ Wild and the live-action adaptation of Harold and the Purple Crayon.
Physical is a half-hour dark comedy centering around Sheila Rubin, a quietly tormented housewife in 80s San Diego who discovers empowerment through aerobics. The series stars Rose Byrne, Rory Scovel, Dierdre Friel, Della Saba, Lou Taylor Pucci, and Paul Sparks.
“Season 2 finds our hero Sheila Rubin (Byrne) having successfully launched her first fitness video only to encounter some new and bigger obstacles on her path,” reads the synopsis. “She is torn between loyalty to her husband (Scovel) and the values he represents and a dangerous attraction to someone else. And since she’s no longer the only game in town, she finds herself having to outrun some fierce new competitors on the road to building a full-fledged fitness empire.”
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Physical is created and executive produced by Annie Weisman, who also serves as the showrunner. It is directed by Craig Gillespie (I Tonya, Cruella), Liza Johnson, and Stephanie Laing. Executive producers are Gillespie, Johnson, Laing, Byrne, Alexandra Cunningham, John McNamara, and Sera Gamble, along with Tomorrow Studios’ Becky Clements.
