‘The Good Place’: D’Arcy Carden Thought There Was ‘No Way’ She’d Be Cast as Janet
When it comes to the cast of The Good Place, each actor bought something special and unique to the table. For D’Arcy Carden, her superpower throughout the four seasons of the show was her incredible range. Carden successfully played the role of Janet, the show’s all-knowing informational database (not a robot) in the form of a human woman. Throughout the series, fans watched as Janet was able to slowly become more human and learn about different aspects of human behavior.
But, while Carden was originally cast to play just one Janet, she did a lot more than that throughout her tenure on The Good Place. Not only did she play hilarious characters like Bad Janet, Neutral Janet, and Disco Janet, she also had fun playing other characters like Jeanette (Micheal’s blonde assistant.) Of course, one of Carden’s shining moments throughout the series comes during the ninth episode season 3 of The Good Place. Aptly called Janet(s), Carden brilliantly plays Janet, neutral Janet, and a version of all four humans in the physical form of Janet.
D’Arcy Carden didn’t think she’d be cast in ‘The Good Place’
Though it’s clear that Carden gave many standout performances throughout all four seasons The Good Place, when she got the audition for the role, she felt there was no way she would be cast. Carden was so enamored by Michael Schur (creator of The Good Place) and Drew Goddard (who directed the series premiere) and the work that they’d done in the past, she simply felt that there was no way she would seriously be considered for the part because she wasn’t more well-known.
But, even though Carden didn’t think she had a chance of being a part of The Good Place cast, she put a lot of time and energy into her audition. Her goal was to leave a lasting impression so that she’d be on Schur’s mind as he added characters for future seasons. “This’ll be a great opportunity for me to show these guys what I got, or make them laugh. I’m going to make an impression so that in season four of this show that they’re making, they’ll cast me as, like, the lunch lady,” Carden reminisced about her thought process for the audition during an interview for the I Think You’re Interesting podcast.
Carden reminisces on her first audition for the show
Carden’s dedication to the role clearly paid off and she recalls her first audition being a particularly good experience. “The first audition was so fun and pleasant, and Mike and Drew were so great, and so was Allison Jones, the casting director. It was such a great, easy, comfortable, fun room that when I left the room, almost my head was spinning like, ‘I know I didn’t get it, but damn, that felt so good.’ And then I got a callback, and it was a very similar vibe in the room — easy to talk to the people in the room,” The Good Place cast member recalled.
Despite the fact that the auditions kept going well, Carden still didn’t believe she had a real shot of landing the part. Things only became a reality when she got the infamous phone call that all actors love to receive. Funnily, enough when she got the call she was watching someone on TV who would become her future castmate on The Good Place.
Carden was the perfect Janet for ‘The Good Place’
“I kept having these experiences with these auditions, where it was like, ‘There’s no way I’m getting this. I know that. That’s not happening. But that felt great.’ And it just kept going like that until I finally got this 11 pm phone call after waiting for a month to hear about it, while I was watching Fargo season two, which means I was watching Ted Danson and falling more in love with him with every episode,” Carden revealed. It’s funny that the actor didn’t think she’d ever be cast as Janet, because we truly couldn’t imagine The Good Place without her.
