Siri, whosThe Good Places scene stealer?
That would be DArcy Carden, who plays know-it-all Janet on NBCs afterlife comedy.
I had three shows there last weekend, I still perform there all the time.
Credit: Justin Lubin/NBC
I was about to have a show and my socks were soaking.
Kate McKinnon had just finished her show, who was a great friend of mine.
She walked home with no socks on because shes a good girl just buds helping buds.
My social circle, my best friends, are all people that I met at UCB.
It sounds like one big family.
You then worked with Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer onBroad City.
What was that set like?
We instantly became friends.
Its kind of just play time, its just fun, but were not just messing around.
These two professional women run a show.
Its so awesome to be a part of.
They definitely like encourage.
Turning toThe Good Place, who is Janet modeled after other than Siri?
Are there any other famous android characters, like C-3PO or Data, that youre pulling from?
Oh, thats good.
Actually a little bit of all those.
Yes, exactly what you said, android-y, robot-y.
I dont want Janet to be a robot, I dont want her to be like a beep-boop-bop robot.
I was watching these weird YouTube clips of these Japanese robots that talk to people.
[Laughs] My husband was showing me some Data.
When I told him about Janet, he compared it immediately to Data.
That was a struggle for me that at some point I just gave over to.
But the first couple episodes, Mike Schur would be like, Lets tone down the reactions.
What was the first overreach with the character?
Like when they were creating the part, do you know if she basically had like superhuman strength?
Was there anything they cut back with her?
Am I making a choice that will make sense down the road for episode 13 or whatever the heck?
So we would try things out, I would say.
How far did they want to take this character in terms of knowing everything in the world?
Is there anything that Janet cant do?
Does she speak many languages?
Could she act out full plays?
Yeah, for sure.
I feel like she could probably sing an opera, you know what I mean?
She could harness whatever she needed.
Actually, why didnt we do that episode?
Have Janet sing a damn opera!
But yeah, I think she could for sure.
I like the idea of her acting out a play or something like that.
Definitely knows other languages, math, whatever it is, shes got it all.
How will she show off her impressive knowledge in future episodes?
I dont think I can answer that question in a way that would be good.
What is the weirdest thing that youve had to do on set?
I would say that theres a scene where Ted Danson and I are bellowing in each others faces.
How is this real?
This is some sort of dream/nightmare situation.
Hes the most playful actor that Ive ever worked with.
We know that Michael is some sort of being, but what would you classify Janet as?
Will we get to meet other Janets?
I dont know the answer to that.
That seems like a fun idea, to see more than one Janet.
It seems like Mike Schur likes to have fun, dont you think?
How do you think you compare to Janet?
He said, Billy Joels old wife, Christine Binkey.
And everyone was like, Yep, uh huh.
And I looked around like, What the hell?
And I couldnt help myself, I was like, Do you mean Christie Brinkley?
I guess I have a little bit of Janet, but Im much more judgmental.
We should all learn from Janet, so un-judgmental.
If you are somewhat similar to Janet, what is the square root of 456,766?
Well, the answer is…
How quickly you’re able to pull out your calculator?
Sh [Laughs].
DArcy brain cant even retain the number you just said.
The Good Placeairs Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. A version of this story appears in the new issue of Entertainment Weekly on stands now, oravailable here.
