Lamorne Morris reveals why Prince's “New Girl” episode was his favorite and least favorite to film

"I just remember, like, doing a scene then going in my trailer and just crying for no reason," he said, recalling his intense depression during season 3.

Lamorne Morris' favorite episode of New Girl might come as a surprise — because it's also his least favorite.

The actor, who spent seven seasons as the show's sweet and quirky Winston Bishop, had an unexpected response when asked to name a highlight from the sitcom's long run.

"This answer is gonna be strange because it's the same episode,” Morris told Penn Badgley, Nava Kavelin, and Sophie Ansari on the latest episode of their podcast, Podcrushed. "My favorite is the Prince episode because for obvious reasons — you get to hang out with Prince."

He continued, "There was so much fanfare around it and so much mystique around him, and when you meet him you're like, 'I see why. This man is illuminating. And he's got on so many tassels and zippers.'"

Related: Lamorne Morris recalls struggle of being only Black character on New Girl: 'Sometimes you take it personal'

The season 3 episode, aptly titled "Prince," featured the show's core characters at a party held at the "Purple Rain" icon's mansion and culminated with Prince offering some critical relationship advice to Jess (Zooey Deschanel) before inviting her on stage to sing with him.

"That was the most impressive part — he was so nice and just soft-spoken and very kind and gentle in the way he would talk to people," Morris recalled. "So that was a really cool experience."

But the excitement of filming alongside The High Priest of Pop was complicated by Morris' mental health taking a serious dip. "It was also the worst episode to film because — I don't know why and it went away — but for a couple of months, I had this wild bout of depression and I didn't know why," he said. "It just kinda hit me, and I'm assuming it was diet-related because once I cleaned up my diet, the mood shifted."

Before Morris found a way through the dark period, he struggled with his state of mind on set. "I just remember, like, doing a scene then going in my trailer and just crying for no reason," he admitted. "And I was like, 'Man, why am I so...?' Everything was going great. Like, everything was going great. I had a beautiful girlfriend at the time — she was great. The work was going great. Everybody was healthy in my family. It was like, 'What am I complaining about?'"

A turning point came when Morris and his then-girlfriend worked to "clean up" his diet and get him on a more consistent exercise schedule. "She started cooking for me," he said. "Only healthy foods and making me juice in the morning — fresh juice and things like that. Or, 'Let's go for a walk, we're going on a hike.' And before I know it, those days are over."

Sign up for to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter

Prince's guest appearance on the show would become New Girl’s most-watched episode of all time, and it later reran on Fox following the singer's 2016 death.

Morris and his New Girl costar Hannah Simone recently reflected on the episode in October on their rewatch podcast, The Mess Around With Hannah and Lamorne. During the conversation, which included the show's costume designer, Debra McGuire, Simone offered her theory that Prince had an ulterior motive for agreeing to the sitcom appearance.

"The reason he wanted to do it is because he had a crush on our little Hannah," McGuire said.

Simone agreed, saying, "Yeah. He tried for a very long time to find a way to be in the same room together."

The actress explained that while she remains a huge fan of Prince's music, she had no interest in pursuing a romantic connection.

"Love a Prince song. Happy to put on a Prince record. I was not interested in anything else," Simone said. "So I was never in the same room with Prince. And then yeah, he was like a teenage boy who showed up at my job, which was really funny."

Listen to Morris' full interview on Podcrushed above.