D’Arcy Carden (‘The Good Place’): If Janet is not a girl, ‘what the hell is she?’ [EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW]
“What the hell is she?” asks D’Arcy Carden about the character she played on “The Good Place” for four seasons. Watch our exclusive interview with her above. She continues, “I don’t know how to act a computer. So I had to find humanity. She has a childlike innocence. I could find innocence and vulnerability as she evolved. My way of viewing Janet is different than how creator Mike Schur would. Over time she certainly became more human. She doesn’t have organs inside of her, or a heart, but I think she has a soul.”
Carden’s Janet is the cheerful robotic assistant in the afterlife set show. The actress explains, “I loved having her evolve over the four seasons. It was scary and stressful and I wanted to get it right, but it was a gift as an actor. Particularly playing a character that could have stayed one note the entire time.”
When updates are needed Janet gets rebooted. Carden also has been given the opportunity to play other ‘Janets’ such as a Bad Place Janet. Last year in ‘Janet(s),’ she played the other characters in the show too. That episode was nominated for a writing Emmy. The actress reveals, “Before we started filming, Mike explained there was going to be this Bad Janet. There was a little part of me thinking, ‘Oh God, who’s going to play her?’ I was very happy I got to. It was such a different energy. It was not a heavily improvised show because the plot was so dense. But with Bad Janet, the directors would always let me go which was fun. There’s something fun about every Janet, even Neutral Janet. Not to mention getting to play the other characters. It was just like cuckoo bananas.”
Last year “The Good Place” scored its first Best Comedy Series nomination at the Emmys and the Globes. With the fourth season being the show’s last, this is Carden’s and the series last chance to get Emmy recognition. The actress says, “It was a perfect ending. In so many shows or situations you don’t know it’s the end. Getting to be aware it’s the end is very special. That location was from a dream. It was so gorgeous and quiet. The weather was perfect. We all were very aware of how perfect it was. And Ted Danson likes to let you know. He’d take you by the shoulder and go ‘look around. This is where we are. Isn’t it beautiful? Can you imagine this being a better situation?’ Everyone was having fun but with tears coming out of their eyes. It was awesome. I’ll never forget that day.’”
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