We know The Good Place‘s perky virtual assistant Janet can do just about anything… but we have to admit, we were still surprised to see her kick the stuffing out of a dozen demons in this week’s epic bar fight.
“It’s such a funny bit: Not only is she the smartest being in the universe, she kicks ass,” D’Arcy Carden, who plays Janet on the NBC comedy, tells TVLine. “She’s Jason Bourne plus a machine robot.” Speaking of Mr. Bourne, Carden actually trained with veteran stunt coordinator Jeff Imada, who worked on the Bourne films, to perfect Janet’s fighting skills. “We worked for many days, many hours,” she recalls. “Anytime I wrapped my scenes, they’d go, ‘Now go to stunt practice.’”
She also credits stunt double Caitlin Dechelle, who worked on Wonder Woman, with helping her get up to speed: “Stunt people are the most selfless, incredible people… they’re not there for the glory. They teach you to be the best you can be.” Carden assumed that the final cut would be mostly footage of Dechelle, but she was pleasantly surprised by how much of her own kicking and punching made it to air: “I did get a sweet email from our editor Eric, [where] he said, ‘I’m using you a lot.’”
The scene may have required days of hard work and preparation, but the idea of Janet fighting a room full of demons was still music to Carden’s ears, she admits: “It was one of the best weeks I’ve ever had. I think I fancy myself a pretend action star, so any time on the show I’ve gotten to do the smallest bit of stunt anything, I’ve been so happy. So having a real week of true stunt work… I was in heaven.” (Additional reporting by Diane Gordon)
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