Zooey Deschanel doesn’t struggle with stage fright. At least, not when it comes to dancing in front of 1,000 Zumba instructors.
On Aug. 29, the “New Girl” actress took part in a celebration of the dance workout’s 25th anniversary, performing a routine onstage to kick off the event.
“It felt like a great cup of coffee,” she told USA TODAY via phone after the class let out. “You wake up on Saturday morning, you're a little tired, and then you get out there and you're bouncing around.”
Deschanel wants to spread the love for her favorite form of cardio; for those thinking of trying Zumba, she says just about anyone can pick up the choreography easily. Part of why she loves it so much is how “inclusive” the workout is.
“Anyone could go to this and be
like, ‘Oh yeah, that's fun.’ Unless you don't like fun,” she joked.
She particularly wants to see her “New Girl” co-star Jake Johnson take on Zumba. The beloved Fox sitcom, which ran from 2011 to 2018 and earned five Golden Globes throughout its seven-season run, centered around the life of quirky teacher Jessica Day (Deschanel) after she moves in with three men, Schmidt (Max Greenfield), Nick Miller (Johnson) and Winston Bishop (Lamorne Morris).
While Deschanel shut down the rumors of a “New Girl” reboot, she said she texts the cast regularly and just saw Johnson last week.
“I would love to get Jake to do a Zumba class,” Deschanel said. “We did a dance video for ‘New Girl’ as a promo. It was like a choose your own adventure kind of dance thing… and Jake doing it was just so funny. He was just committing to it in the best way.”
For Deschanel, Zumba is just one part of her overall fitness routine. She loves that she can “find a class anywhere” while traveling or on location, but she also incorporates walking, weight lifting and Pilates into her wellness regimen.
“I just wanna spread the love, spread the joy,” she said of Zumba. “It’s (a) no judgment zone.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why Zooey Deschanel wants you to try her favorite workout
