It’s really something. Through multiple left-field twists, Harper brought lovable humor, humanity and an inspiring moral compass to his tightly-wound ethics professor character, earning an Emmy nomination in the show’s fourth and final season, which ended in January. It’s tough when you can’t be in the room.

That’s something that I’m really interested in. Her work that entire last episode was just always so raw and truthful and real and beautiful.

There are actors that just kind of wait and say their lines. There’s a line in the first season that Chidi has and I’m paraphrasing, but he said something like that effective principles aren’t principles you can pick and choose when you apply them. Rachel Brosnahan also donned coordinated outfits with her pup while being interviewed by E!

Looking for smart ways to get more from life? William Jackson Harper’s role of Chidi ultimately formed the backbone of all that is good in The Good Place, and perhaps in our real world, too. And that’s kept me from going back and rethinking things.

You don’t know you.” And so, whenever I would nail something and he would be really pleased with it, that was okay. And once he [creator, Michael Schur] explained to us that we were actually in the bad place, and it was going to take a bunch of weird twists and turns going forward, then I was all in, I was just like, this is great. One night in 2017, William Jackson Harper found himself at a dance party with his Good Place costars.

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But that was never really an option. #emmys2020," Harper wrote on Instagram. Though the virtual awards were hosted by Jimmy Kimmel from the Staples Center in California, Harper and other celebrities tuned in from home.
The cool thing about this whole job and the age that I am at the stage that I’m in is it’s really interesting to find ways to not be intimidated by people you’re in awe of.

The actor said goodbye to The Good Place back in January once NBC's philosophically … Mike Katzif/NPR William Jackson Harper: Getting To The Good Place

ahead of the show. It’s playing something or someone that is tapping into something dark. So, I was already in a weird place when I got the job. A post shared by William Jackson Harper (@williamjacksonharper) on Sep 20, 2020 at 4:12pm PDTSep 20, 2020 at 4:12pm PDT, Harper previously told Insider's Kim Renfro that he was meeting with an "animal communicator, aka dog psychic" when he heard that he was nominated for an Emmy: "It was just a whole lot of screaming for about a solid half hour, and then we had to calm down and talk to our animal communicator. I think that she was just hitting something so truthful that it really landed it. I was already anxious going in. And that’s something that has helped me make decisions in these past few years that I don’t regret. But I’m super excited about it. I thought I was auditioning for a lawyer working for the Innocence Project… In the middle of the first season the creators brought us all in and said, “Okay, you’re actually not in the good place, you’re in the bad place.” It was like, “Hey, I’m completely in the dark about everything, it’s consistent with the character, so it’s fine.” But I was relieved when I found out that the world that we were in was not what it seemed. Was there a particular moment where you thought, I can’t believe I’m doing this job? It was nuts.".

The whole cast is great to work with, but most of my stuff was with Kristen and working with her is a dream, she’s amazing. Show full articles without "Continue Reading" button for {0} hours.

They’re with her and they’re hearing these things and she’s reacting in a way.

And I think the thing that I learned was I’ve got to relax and trust that I can do the work.

The shirts referenced late Georgia congressman and civil-rights icon John Lewis, who advised people in 2018 to "make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.". And it’s just hats off to her, because I feel that’s the thing that actually gives you the impact, is having a scene partner that really stayed with you.

DEADLINE: Did playing him change you at all? Have you been bowled over by all those twists and turns and revelations along the way? William Jackson Harper made a political fashion statement at the 2020 Emmy Awards this weekend. Obviously, as you said, when I got the audition and I didn’t know what the show was, I had dummy scripts with dummy audition material. Working with Barry Jenkins is a dream. You killed that, man.” I was like, “I did? ‘The Good Place’s William Jackson Harper On Wanting To Play A Villain & His Realization Making ‘The Underground Railroad’.

But that was one of those salient moments where it was just able get over my awe, and just settle in and be there with my scene partner, rather than trying to be preoccupied with the imposter syndrome that I think I deal with, and I think a lot of people deal with, every time they get a job. since. So why can’t I do it too?
Representatives for William Jackson Harper did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. On Sunday, the "The Good Place" star shared a photo of himself, actress Ali Ahn — who is also Harper's girlfriend — and their dog Chico wearing matching black T-shirts that said "good trouble."