Jessica Christopher "Jess" Day is a fictional title character in the FOX sitcom New Girl, where she becomes the sole female roommate in an apartment loft in Los Angeles.

Film actress and singer-songwriter Zooey Deschanel was in the process of developing an HBO show when she read the New Girl pilot script and responded to the material.

She does not shy away from playing embarrassing scenes or being unattractive,[2] and Jake Kasdan, one of a number of directors, said that "This show advocates for the attractive dork.

Her parents, Bob (Rob Reiner) and Joan (Jamie Lee Curtis), are divorced, and she has an older sister named Abby (Linda Cardellini).

She answers an ad on Craigslist and moves into a loft she shares with Nick Miller (Jake Johnson), Coach (Damon Wayans Jr.), and Schmidt (Max Greenfield).

[14] During season 1, she dates several different men, including: music teacher co-worker Paul Genzlinger (Justin Long), whom her roommates think is a male version of Jess; and Russell Schiller (Dermot Mulroney), a divorced father of one of her students.

[15] She hooks up with a guy named Sam Sweeney (David Walton) who prefers an open relationship and is later revealed to be a pediatrician.

In season 6, Jess is part of a singles group, and develops a relationship with Robby McFerrin (Nelson Franklin), whom the rest of her roommates and friends like.

Jess takes a job with Russell's company, and in the episode "Lillypads", it is revealed her circumstances from leaving the private school were complicated.

The night before the wedding, she and Nick sleep together but it leads to a series of unlucky circumstances and they marry in a hospital hall while Winston's wife Aly (Nasim Pedrad) is giving birth to their child.

One month later, as she and Nick move to a smaller apartment, she has the entire gang bid their farewells to the loft by playing one last game of "True American".