'New Girl' Season 5 casting news: Megan Fox joins sitcom TV series during Zooey Deschanel's maternity leave

Actress Megan Fox will be joining the new season of Fox’s sitcom TV series titled “New Girl.” Fox, 36, has been added to the cast as a recurring character that will temporarily fill the vacant spot of main cast member Zooey Deschanel, who is currently on maternity leave, in “New Girl” Season 5.

Spoiler Alert: This feature contains major “New Girl” Season 5 spoilers.

Deschanel and husband Jacob Pechenki, who tied the knot over the summer, welcomed their first child, a baby girl, in early August. Entertainment Weekly (EW) reports that “New Girl” character Jessica Day will find herself on sequestered during a jury duty so Deschanel, who portrays Jessica “Jess” Day, will not appear in a number of episodes in “New Girl” Season 5.

While Jess is away, Megan Fox will be entering the picture as the new character renting out Jess’ room. Fox will portray a gorgeous pharmaceutical sales rep named Reagan who arrives to town on business.

“New Girl” series creator and executive producer Elizabeth Meriwether declared in a statement that they had Megan Fox in mind while writing about new character Reagan. Meriwether further added that Fox is the perfect person to come in the show and shake up the guys in the LA loft.

Meriwether, who has been a fan of Fox’s comedic acting skills in the 2012 film “This Is 40,” admitted that she is really excited to have the “Transformers” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” star on the show. “It’s insane to me that such a gorgeous person can be so funny,” Meriwether declared in a statement.

TVLine reports that Fox will make her debut appearance in the sixth episode of the new season. Last spring, Deschanel already pre-taped five episodes of “New Girl” Season 5 before going on maternity leave.

Fox’s role in “New Girl” Season 5 marks her return on television. Fox has appeared on the sitcoms “What I Like About You,” “Two and a Half Men” and “Hope & Faith” on ABC. “New Girl” Season 5 is scheduled to kick off in January 2016 with what Fox network describes as an “uninterrupted run of all-new episodes.”

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