The Good Place aired its finale three years ago. Hard to believe, considering the other things that took the attention in 2020, but the show couldn’t have ended at a better time. A message on philosophy, change, and altruism in even the worst situations was something timely that was sorely needed both during the premiere and well past the finale.
Damn, three years is a long time though. Especially in Hollywood, where things run at the fastest pace imaginable despite the setbacks of the past few years. So what has that led to for the cast of The Good Place since the show is over? They’ve all had varying degrees of success, but has anyone taken off?
Ted Danson
It’s not that Ted Danson hasn’t been successful, but more that it’s Ted Danson and he has god mode enabled when it comes to television roles. Already a veteran actor with everything from Cheers to CSI and Saving Private Ryan in his portfolio, Danson does what he wants, when he wants.
That said, he’s kept steady roles since The Good Place ended, with Mr. Mayor premiering in 2021 and running for two seasons. Most recently he’s appeared in The Orville and Curb Your Enthusiasm. There’s nothing he’s confirmed for coming, but assuming there’s another season of Curb Your Enthusiasm it’s a safe bet he’ll show up there. Until then, give the man a break!
Marc Evan Jackson
Marc Evan Jackson is a character actor through and through, with his dry humor and ability to maintain a stone-cold exterior under the silliest of circumstances. After playing the demon Shawn on The Good Place, he continues his trend of showing up in the most unexpected places.
Of course, a year after The Good Place ended, Brooklyn 99 also came to an end with Marc Evan Jackson appearing in numerous episodes across the last two seasons. Since then he’s had other small roles in various projects, joining The Good Place costar Kristen Bell in Netflix’s The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window. Yes, the title is a mouthful, but it’s a brilliant horror satire series. He’s also appeared in shows like Dead To Me and Central Park.
Kristen Bell
Kristen Bell was more established than everyone except Ted Danson in the main cast, and The Good Place just cemented her dramatic and comedic capabilities. There’s been no shortage of work for her recently, with the aforementioned The Woman in the House on Netflix being a sleeper hit and various voice roles like the Narrator in Gossip Girl and kids’ show Do, Re, & Mi.
She won’t be hurting for any kind of roles though, considering she has Disney locked down with her vocal talent as Anna in Frozen. Though nothing is confirmed for the Disney franchise in the future, it is likely, they won’t ignore that money printer for much longer. Meanwhile, Kristen Bell is confirmed for a role in the next Paw Patrol movie, fulfilling one of her dreams as she’s expressed her love of the show before.
Manny Jacinto
There are two accurate representations of Jacksonville, FL in film and television: the first is Jason Mendoza on The Good Place, and the second is the beginning security footage from Jacksonville in The Purge. Manny Jacinto’s role of a lovable, sincere idiot who would be so proud of the Jaguars right now is one of the standout performances of the show, and he has a hell of a journey ahead as an actor.
Manny Jacinto came out swinging after The Good Place ended, showing up in miniseries like Nine Perfect Strangers and Brand New Cherry Flavor (super underrated). Now, with even more credit established thanks to his role in Top Gun: Maverick, he’s taking on the Star Wars universe in The Acolyte. Not much is known about who he’ll play, but it’s Star Wars set during The High Republic’s downfall. What more could you want?
D’arcy Carden
It’s a crime D’arcy Carden didn’t win an Emmy for her role as Janet. The actress showed ridiculous versatility, even mirroring and acting as each of her costars for a full episode on The Good Place, yet doesn’t get the credit she deserves. Nothing has slowed her down though, with more credits than most of the other main cast in the past three years.
While she’s still appearing on HBO’s Barry, D’arcy also had a recent standout role in Amazon’s A League of Their Own series. She’s also had voice roles on various podcasts and animated shows such as American Dad and The Ghost and Molly McGee. She’ll be appearing in the new film Shotgun Wedding later this month, starring alongside a cast including Josh Duhamel, Jennifer Cooling, and Jennifer Lopez.
Jameela Jamil
Jameela as Tahani Al-Jamil is an icon, and probably one of the best character arcs in The Good Place which is already a high bar to clear. Especially harder was that this was Jameela’s first acting role, having been a television personality in the UK previously. She delivered though, giving a sassy, slightly oblivious character with a true heart for others.
This is contrasted pretty well with her next majorly publicized role as Titania in She-Hulk: Attorney At Law. Her role as the influencer/villain is hilariously narcissistic, with everything she does centering on gaining more attention. She’s taken a few voice roles in the meantime as well, even playing Wonder Woman in DC’s League of Super Pets film and lending her talents to shows like Jurassic Park: Camp Cretaceous and Star Trek Prodigy.
William Jackson Harper
William Jackson Harper has possibly the best post-The Good Place career moves. His role as Chidi was essential to the show, and nobody could have played out the character’s complete breakdown like he did. He had massive success during the show too, with Midsommar released between seasons three and four.
Now, he’s got the MCU just around the corner playing Quaz in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (still pulling for him as Reed Richards though). He kept busy since the end of The Good Place too, taking roles in HBO’s Love Life, Peacock’s The Resort, and Netflix’s Dogs in Space. With his talent, William Jackson Harper has nowhere to go but up.
Bonus: Maya Rudolph
Maya Rudolph played The Judge on The Good Place, one of the higher-ups of the afterlife that made the big decisions and had a thing for binging canceled shows. Maya is already a comedy legend with Idiocracy, Saturday Night Live, and Bridesmaids, and sure she’s had more roles since The Good Place ended, but let’s talk about the elephant in the room.
Maya Rudolph will be taking over as M&M’s spokesperson. Which isn’t a bad thing, more Maya Rudolph is never a bad thing. It’s the reason for it that’s a bit much. M&M’s have decided to retire the spokescandies for now and replace them with Rudolph after suggestive comments about the Green M&M from a political entertainment host. If 2023 is going to be all out like this for the rest of the year, it might be best for everyone to buckle up.
That’s the cast and where they are now, though who knows how many Jeremy-Beremies have passed since the end of the show. All the stars, whether established before or not, are on the Hollywood map now and can only have much greater things to come in the future. Take it sleazy.
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