William Jackson Harper thought the role would go to someone white (Picture: Netflix)

The Good Place’s William Jackson Harper has admitted that he didn’t think he was the right ‘fit’ to play Chidi Anagonye – because he thought a black man would never play Kristen Bell’s love interest on screen.

Chidi and Eleanor’s blooming romance has been keeping viewers hooked for three seasons now, and it all came to a head at the mid-season break in December when – hot diggedy dog – Chidi finally realised his feelings and kissed Eleanor.

And, speaking to Metro.co.uk, William admitted that he was just as surprised as Chidi was at the role he is playing in Eleanor’s life, as he didn’t think he was even going to get the role.

Chidi and Eleanor’s romance is finally happening after months of will they?/won’t they? (Picture: Getty)

He told us: ‘I feel like there was a time in recent memory where a character, one that I get to play, would not be played by a guy like me. It’s, you know, it’s interesting because I honestly just assumed that there was going to be a …well if we’re being crass here, I definitely, when I was reading for the show, I did have this thought of “OK, this is a guy playing opposite Kristen Bell, I’m sure they’re gonna go with some real, super pretty, probably very…fairer skinned dude than myself”, just because that’s sort’ve what I had seen.’




‘There’s no way I’m going to be the love interest on this show in any way, there’s just no way that’s going to happen,’ he added. ‘That’s just sort of what I’d got used to seeing, and that was just how it was going to be.’

However, thanks to his girlfriend, he decided to go for the role anyway.

Chidi and Eleanor have been helping each other navigate the after-life (Picture: NBC)

‘I remember talking to my girlfriend as I was reading the part and rehearsing before I got into the audition and she was like “I think you can do this, I think this is actually a really good fit for you” and I was like “that’s great, but I just don’t think that I’m the right type”,’ he explained.

‘It was just a weird, insidious way in which you’re sort of conditioned to think that certain things are not accessible to you and I feel like this show can kind of break that up, you know?

‘I think it’s making a lot of headwind because it’s a pretty ethnically diverse cast and that’s kind of the thing that I’m proudest of.’

The Good Place is often praised for its diverse casting and plots, with Jameela Jamil, Manny Jacinto and Kristen Bell the four humans leading the story alongside demon Michael (Ted Danson) and his problem-solving entity, Janet (D’Arcey Carden).

The Golden Globe nominated show is known for its diverse cast (Picture: Getty)

‘It’s not like, you know, our ethnicities are insignificant or completely unnoticed, it’s just that they aren’t the reason why we are on the show,’ William added. ‘It’s part of who we are, it is noticed, but it is more than that.

‘Like Jason Mendoza’s a dirtbag and a dummy, and Chidi is a human turtleneck, and that’s who we are. Tahani’s a socialite. So those are the most important, and we all happen to be different ethnicities and it’s totally normal and I think that’s great.’

‘I think for me it’s been more of an insidious conditioning that I sort of assumed as a dark-skinned, black man, playing opposite a white woman and potentially being a love interest, its like “well that’s not going to happen for me”,’ he added. ‘That’s about the extent for me. I don’t think that I have the same experiences that Manny and Jameela have, the industry treats me very differently.’



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So how important is the representation on the show?

William added: ‘I think it’s important. But also I think…I’m a nerdy black dude! You know? That is one of those things that we don’t see a lot of or haven’t seen a lot of, and it’s one of those things that growing up I didn’t really see a lot of, apart from the occasional Steve Erkel which leans really hard into more stereotypical TV nerd.

‘The sort of miopic smart guy but not just an annoying nerd in a stereotypical sense is something that I hadn’t seen a black man get to do.

‘It’s kind of great to acknowledge the existence of black nerds, because there’s a lot of us! It’s sort of nice to see us out there.’

The Good Place returns Fridays on Netflix in the UK.

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