Richard Shotwell / Invision / AP
Nicole Richie attends the NBCUniversal portion of the 2017 Winter Television Critics Association press tour on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017, in Pasadena, Calif.
Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017 | 6:42 p.m.
PASADENA, Calif. — Nicole Richie is the new kid on the comedy block in an upcoming NBC workplace comedy from Tina Fey.
The reality star and jewelry designer co-stars with Andrea Martin and Horatio Sanz of "Saturday Night Live" fame in "Great News," set in a television newsroom. The show debuts April 25.
"I auditioned a few times. I had no idea what I was walking into," Richie told a TV critics gathering on Wednesday. "They all kind of knew each other and I was the new kid on the block. They welcomed me with open arms."
Fey, who serves as executive producer along with her former "30 Rock" cohorts Robert Carlock and Jack Burditt, was supportive of Richie, having watched her years ago on the reality show "The Simple Life" with her childhood friend Paris Hilton.
"She has an instant likeability," Fey said. "The kind of instincts she has you cannot teach."
Most of Richie's scenes are with John Michael Higgins. She is 35; he is 53.
"The cool part about our characters is there's such a generational gap," Richie said. "We celebrate it off-screen but it's still very much there because you are old."
Higgins responded, "It's not just that I'm old, but I'm seriously out of touch. I'm always turning to Nicole and saying, 'Here's a joke these idiots wrote and what does it mean?'"
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