The Good Place: Marc Evan Jackson Recalls the Moment He Learned About the Show’s Big Twist
Marc Evan Jackson was a fan of NBC’s The Good Place before he was ever part of the cast.
During the ATX Television Festival last month, I had the chance to speak with Jackson, who plays Shawn on the series, about the moment he learned of the show’s first big twist in Season 1 and the recent news that The Good Place would be ending with its upcoming fourth season.
“I was a fan of The Good Place before I was a cast member on The Good Place, so I think my reaction is probably far closer to that of the general public’s,” Jackson began, discussing the news that the show would be ending.
“Obviously, it’s a show that’s been so groundbreaking and taken so many chances and undone established reality so many times,” he said. “It’s torn its face off so many times without a ticking clock.”
Jackson said that the cast and crew were about halfway through shooting Season 4 already.
“I cannot wait to see what this collection of geniuses do with a limited amount of time,” Jackson stated. “What a great and powerful move to [conclude] a show on your own terms, in your own timeframe. I think it’s wonderful. And also I hate it.”
He praised the efforts of everyone involved in the show, noting how appreciative he was to work with such a talented and hard-working group.
“Ted Danson is legitimately America’s sweetheart and the kindest man on the planet,” Jackson gushed. “Kristen [Bell] is a gifted leader and so funny and so smart.”
Jackson also recalled the moment he learned of the first big twist in The Good Place Season 1.
“I got sent pieces of the script that had characters named ‘Real Eleanor’ and ‘Fake Eleanor’ and I had to call Mike Schur and be like, hey buddy, what is this? I don’t understand this at all. And he said, ‘I’ll tell you on Monday. Just come to work.'”
“I got the lowdown on what this show was moments before going to set, and it was horrifying and amazing,” he remembered. “My first question was, legitimately, ‘They let you make this? This shouldn’t exist. This shouldn’t be real. This shouldn’t be possible.'”
As for Shawn, Jackson admitted his character was pretty fun to play. He wasn’t able to tease much in terms of what we can expect from him in the final season except that well, he’s still pretty terrible.
“Shawn is a complex and hilarious and terrible, terrible person — not person. It’s the best,” he said.
“To begin with, Shawn pretending to be the all-knowing judge of the afterlife whose opinion is established fact in all matters past, present, and future, to then becoming super duper evil, is a little bit of evolution and fun and he’s just getting worse. Shawn’s just getting worse.”
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The Good Place returns for its fourth and final season on Thursday, September 26th at 9/8c on NBC.
*Additional reporting by Allison Nichols.
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Ashley Bissette Sumerel
Ashley Bissette Sumerel is a television and film critic living in Wilmington, North Carolina. She is editor-in-chief of Tell-Tale TV as well as Eulalie Magazine. Ashley has also written for outlets such as Rolling Stone, Paste Magazine, and Insider. Ashley has been a member of the Critics Choice Association since 2017 and is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic. In addition to her work as an editor and critic, Ashley teaches Entertainment Journalism, Composition, and Literature at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.