Kristen Bell On Her ‘Nobody Wants This’ Series And Filming In LA

Adam Brody, Kristen Bell and Erin Foster on the set of “Nobody Wants This”

ADAM ROSE/NETFLIX

She is that super familiar face & voice that we have come to love throughout her already long and consistent acting career. From four seasons (and a movie) as the young private investigator on Veronica Mars and the iconic narrator on Gossip Girl, to her four seasons playing Eleanor Shellstrop on The Good Place, Kristen Bell has entertained us and has grabbed our attention, time and time again. I mean, she is even the voice of a Disney princess – Anna in the Frozen movies.

Lately for Bell, 45, much of her time & attention has been going towards her hit comedy series, Nobody Wants This. With season one streaming on Netflix, she plays Joanne, a free-spirited podcaster who meets a young Rabbi named Noah (played by Adam Brody), striking up a romance together, while those around them question the longevity of this new relationship, with many factors working against them.

Being also an executive producer on Nobody Wants This, which was created by Erin Foster, Bell was recently recognized with the first two Emmy nominations of her career – for “Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series” and “Outstanding Comedy Series.” I sat down with longtime creative, wondering what it means to her to be acknowledged by her industry peers on this latest project.

Bell said, “I mean, it’s very exciting to know that people connect with the show – and to be honest, it makes me so happy to know that the whole show is being acknowledged. There’s a lot that goes into making a production environment thrive, creatively. I am far from the only person involved, even in my performance – so, to know that people connect to the show and that it’s being acknowledged in this way makes me happy for our entire group, our entire family, that poured creative blood, sweat and tears into this show.”

Sure, Nobody Wants This somewhat follows the romantic comedy formula of “girl-meets-boy” – but this particular story has hit on a different level with audiences today. So, why does Bell think that is?

“I think Erin Foster discovered something about hyper-realistic writing, and she committed to it and fought for her vision. Even when along the way some people said there’s not enough plot – even when she was getting notes to perhaps make the show seem bigger – she committed to the fact that the show is meant to feel small, it is meant to feel like it could happen to you, or happen to your neighbor, or happen to your girlfriend, or happen to your guy friend. I think even I had trouble digesting the hyper-realism in the beginning.”

Bell added: “I was nervous there wasn’t enough going on and I was constantly looking to Erin to calm my fears, but once I realized she actually writes in a way that gives the actors an incredible amount of room to play between the lines and add things, I thought – Oh, this woman is so smart and will go down in history, I think, as someone to be compared to. I think she will be a reference point. I think in film and television meetings going forward, people – the way they say – Oh, it’s like Tim Burton, it’s like John Hughes, it’s like Wes Anderson – they all created something and I think Erin did too, and I think people will say – It’s kind of like an Erin Foster vibe.”

Circling back to Bell’s “Outstanding Lead Actress” Emmy nomination, in a category that includes fellow powerhouse women Uzo Aduba, Quinta Brunson, Ayo Edebiri and Jean Smart, I was curious of Bell’s thoughts on the ladies that she shares this honor with.

Bell said, “I mean, I’m a rabid fan of all of them. I have a hard time picking favorites and I’m rooting for everyone, least of all myself, just because I think that there’s many more deserving women in my category. When people say it’s just an honor to be nominated, I mean that so sincerely and with absolutely no sarcasm or bite in my voice. It is such an honor to be alongside these women that I look up to.”

With timely themes around religion differences and the current media trends of podcasting being told in a meaningful, seemingly accurate and lighthearted way on Nobody Wants This, Bell and her creative team seem to be on top of these relatable topics. So, how much would Bell say of what is seen within our society and our real world, has affected how her team chooses to take on a given storyline?

“I wouldn’t say it’s premeditated,” Bell said. “I would say the show is modern and we are choosing modern scenarios. Their podcasting is now a real job – she said with a wink and a smile. It’s also a job that is easily poked fun at – strife for comedy. The dating landscape has changed so dramatically in the last five to ten years. No one knows that better than Erin, because she pays attention. I have ten girlfriends I could name who are sick of the apps, looking for love – in their early to mid-40s, late 30s to mid-40s – and it’s hard out there. All of this comes from Erin’s brain, right? She has her finger on the pulse. She’s very trendy and social, and with it and thorough – and also intellectual and very funny. That makes for a great stew for everyone to feast on.”

Bell’s co-star Brody is also nominated for his first Emmy in the “Lead Actor in a Comedy Series” category. So, I wondered what are her thoughts about her main on-screen collaborator and the ways that he perhaps helps elevate her own acting performance.

Bell said of Brody, “This is the maybe third or fourth time Adam and I have worked together. He is delightful to work alongside. He is one of the handful of actors who never feels as though they’re saying written lines. He is so natural with his delivery that it doesn’t just keep you on your toes – it almost knocks you off your center in a great way because he’s just talking to you. He’s also the type of scene partner and actor where if a glass shatters mid-take or a pen drops or one of us has mustard on our face, he will be natural and evolve it into the scene, which gives me permission to do so.”

For the past few months, the second season of the 20th Television Production’s Nobody Wants This has been filming around Los Angeles, California – with it expected to be released October 23 on Netflix. So, with Foster, Bell, Brody and their creative team returning to tell more stories around these characters’ lives within this fictional television universe, I was curious if they collectively had any specific conversations early on about making sure that this season two narrative would not evolve in the wrong direction or in an all-too-predictable route.

Bell said, “Yeah, we had the blessing of having Jenni Konner and Bruce Eric Kaplan added this season to help Erin run this mega-show. I think they all brought different seasoned efforts to the table. Erin had the inception and all these ideas. Jenni and Bruce have been in this business for so long. I remember being in the writers’ room and Erin saying – We really want to give the people what they want. We’re not interested in trying to keep the show so fresh that it becomes a different show. There is a reason people watched this. There is a reason people gravitate towards these characters. It’s because they feel familiar, hyper-realistic, and it’s with a sprinkling of wish fulfillment. We had a gigantic bucket of ideas to choose from, because every single person has gotten to the three-month mark in any relationship, where you start to decide how to merge your friend groups, how to meet each other’s families – how to cohabitate, how to deal with the things you thought were very cute, like loud chewing in the beginning, that now annoy you. A relationship has a trajectory. Picking and choosing the most intimate and funny moments was the true north of the writers’ room.”

Being a series shot in LA, following the recent California wildfires and as local creative professionals look for jobs within the entertainment town, I wondered what it means to Bell to have her Nobody Wants This cast & crew filming in LA – providing jobs to entertainment folks, up and down the line.

“Let me start by saying I don’t work outside of LA,” Bell said. “I made that decision when my kids were born because I didn’t want to destabilize their environment. It was risky, but it has paid off. I am so proud of having leveraged my involvement because I know my crew, that I love and respect, get to go home to their family members each night. We also shoot very humane hours, which was a priority. I think maintaining LA’s sort of label as the filmmaking capital of the world is important. It’s even bigger than just the work. It has to do with tourism and why people visit the Hollywood sign.”

She added: “To be honest, I’m not an award show person by any stretch. I like to sit at home and watch them, as opposed to go. One reason I’m really excited to go to the Emmys and that the Emmys are on this year, is because I know that means work for the stylists, for the hair dressers, for the makeup artists, for the transportation, for the catering, for the production crew that’s running it – for the grip and electric. It means work for everyone around here, and these people are our family and we have to support them.”

As I concluded my conversation with Bell, I left her with my original, signature interview question – What would you say, Kristen, to Joanne, if you could speak to her after all that she has gone through on Nobody Wants This? What do you feel she needs to hear?

Bell said, “Oh! Keep going, girl. You’re evolving beautifully.”