This Hair Choice Helped Zooey Deschanel Embody ‘Physical’ Season 3 Role: ‘It Didn’t Really Register As Zooey, Ever’ (Exclusive)

Grab a pair of light weights, because Zooey Deschanel is getting Physical. The New Girl alum is currently taking on her first television role since the Fox series as Kelli, a sitcom star looking to break into the fitness industry in Apple TV+'s Physical. But, according to director Stephanie Laing, don't expect Deschanel to look — or act — like Jess Day.

"In my mind, she was just Kelli," Laing exclusively told The Messenger. "It didn't really register as Zooey ever, honestly, [it was] so different. She dressed so different, and she obviously used two different voices. Imaginary Kelli sounds one way, real Kelli sounds another, so it's very distinct and detailed. It didn't remind me of anything I've ever seen Zooey in."

In the series, Kelli also serves as the negative voice inside Sheila (Rose Byrne)'s head. And aside from her blonde tresses, those negative comments were another way for Deschanel to get into character.

"Oftentimes when she was playing imaginary Kelli, we would improvise her insults to Rose, and it was very freeing to watch a room full of people just insult each other and then laugh about it," Laing recalled. "She obviously is a very nuanced performer, as is Rose, and so she rides that line between comedy and drama very well."

This "parasocial" relationship, Laing said, starkens the contrast between the real Kelli — whom Sheila doesn't know very well — and the negative one she sees inside her head. Imaginary Kelli, she noted, has taken over for Sheila's internal monologue, which viewers last saw at the end of Season 2.

And that isn't the only change we've seen in Season 3. The final chapter dives into Sheila's up-and-down relationship with food, which required more than a little bit of prep work. Laing specifically pointed to one shot of Sheila's head in the toilet, which viewers hadn't seen before on-screen.

"We felt like we'd earned it," she explained. "We don't see anything beyond that, but we've never done that before. We did a lot of research on it, and we're presenting it in a very honest way. We approach it with truth, and that's all I can really say about it."

But since Physical is wrapping up this season, Laing explained that viewers can expect Sheila's character to end up in a "great place" — although she warned, "recovery is a long road."

New episodes of Physical drop Wednesdays on Apple TV+.