Jake Johnson takes his isolation personally

Like many people these days, Jake Johnson is holed up at home because of the pandemic. Best known for the TV series "New Girl" and "Stumptown," he's waiting for the all-clear to return to work on the Netflix animated comedy "Hoops," where he provides the voice for cranky, foul-mouthed basketball coach Ben Hopkins.

But Johnson's isolation stings a little more than it does for his fellow cast members. That's because he publicly predicted that it would never happen.

"Mid-March of this year, I got asked to do the Jimmy Kimmel show," he said. "I've done Kimmel a few times, I really like him, and I was happy to do it.

"And at the time there was a thing coming near America called corona. I had done a little research on COVID-19, and I didn't think it was going to be that big of a deal. Everyone was talking about what was going to happen, and I was like, 'God, you guys are such doomsayers! This is not going to happen.' "

Kimmel thanked Johnson on the air for coming to do the show when a lot of other people were starting to shelter at home.

"And I said something like, 'Yeah, it's fine, COVID's not a big deal.' Something as stupid as that. Then I tell a bunch of stories, we get some laughs, I finish the interview."

At the time, he didn't think he'd stuck his foot in his mouth.

It didn't take him long to realize how naive.

"I get in the car to go home and I hear that the NBA had been canceled. So I went home that night, and it was like the world was shut down and I have to say, I don't think I ever felt dumber in my whole life. A lot of people say really stupid stuff, but it's not recorded. There's no way for me to defend this! I did not think it was going to be that big of a deal! I was so embarrassed to be that wrong."

Johnson said he rarely goes on social media, so he doesn't know what sort of response he got to his interview. But not knowing if other people were mocking him didn't stop him from mocking himself,

"That was a moment where I looked at myself in the mirror and was like: 'You're an idiot, buddy.' "

His brother didn't try to sugarcoat things. According to Johnson, he made his own prediction when he told him, "That interview you did will not age well."