Kristen Bell & William Jackson Harper on THE GOOD PLACE
As Eleanor and Chidi, Kirsten Bell and William Jackson Harper have explored ethics, love, and in the good place and the bad place (not heaven or hell), and even the medium place. So what else can they possibly hope to explore when the fourth and final season of The Good Place? Well, let's see what they have to say about the show premiering on Thursday, September 26th on NBC.
The on again, off again love story between Eleanor and Chidi has had its ups and downs over the course of the show. Will the audience get a version of a happily ever after for these two characters?
William Jackson Harper: I don't know that a real love story ever has an ending. Ending at the moment where there is the marriage and the cans behind the car- that's where this story starts so I have a really hard time dealing with that idea as a completion of a story.
Kirsten Bell: I couldn't agree more. A love story really is a commitment from both people to grow and blossom together and once that commitment is made, it begins and the great example Mike's given is that you don't find your perfect person, you become either the perfect person someone wants to find or you find someone and you make a ton of mistakes and you grow together and that is the love story.
What does it feel like to be closing the character arcs for these two characters? What are you proud of your character for achieving by the end of this series?
W: I feel like we've seen Chidi become somewhat less rigid and I think that's due almost in entirety to his relationship with Eleanor. I think that's the biggest thing for him, to make those on your feet in the moment decisions, and what's the right thing to do in the moment right now? He figures out that it is important to take care of your side of the street rather than living by some rules that some guy wrote a long time ago.
K: What I've loved about Eleanor is that she started out feeling like everyone was against her, something had happened to her, life had been unjust; and it had. It was as if inside her body she was captured inside a really night net. Through these 4 years she knew these people who made her grow and challenge her, she realized she had a pair of scissors in her pocket the whole time. She wasn't waiting for someone to cut her out of the net; she had all the answers. It's not a key to a cage but it's a series of tiny snips and that is how your heart starts hurting, your soul feels better, and by the end I like that Eleanor likes herself. I like that she started by hating everyone else, held a mirror up and said "Oh I could be the one to change. Maybe I'm the common denominator." To me that's an incredible life lesson.
Tune in to see what Kirsten Bell, William Jackson Harper and the rest of the cast have in store for the premier of the final season of The Good Place on NBC. Premiere airs on Thursday, September 26th on NBC, check your local listings for times.