Kristen Bell on ‘Nobody Wants This’: Why she pushed back on her role

Kristen Bell and Adam Brody star in Nobody Wants This. Photo / @netflix via X.

US actress Kristen Bell has claimed she “pushed back” constantly about her Nobody Wants This character.

The 45-year-old star plays sex and dating podcast host Joanne Williams in the Netflix hit, and she has admitted during the first season she struggled with the vagueness of the scripts and how her character was written, as she tried to get used to the tone of the show.

She told The Hollywood Reporter: “I pushed back with constant questioning because I didn’t have the same hooks into the emotional math of my character that I’m used to having.

“And now I see how much ambiguity there is in real life, and I see what Erin was doing – but there were times where I’d just roll my eyes at her and be like, ‘Ugh, you don’t understand’.”

Bell, who stars opposite Adam Brody as rabbi Noah Roklov as their characters form an unexpected relationship, changed her mind once she watched the full series, and saw the reaction from the public.

She explained: “Once I saw the show, and to be honest, once I saw people seeing the show, because proof is in the pudding, I was like, ‘Oh wow, this girl is writing about what happens to your neighbour or your girlfriend’.

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“So it wasn’t just because of the success of the show that the second season got easier; it was because Erin [Foster, creator] and I finally saw each other.”

For Foster, Nobody Wants This is her first project as a creator and showrunner, and she admitted while people involved all had their own visions, she was fighting her own corner.

She said: “There were a lot of different visions. I just kept saying, ‘Guys, please trust me’.”

Bell insisted the show will put Foster in an elite group with the likes of Tim Burton and Wes Anderson for her own distinct style.

She said: “Now, if you ask me, I’d say, ‘I believe Erin Foster will become a reference point in TV and film meetings going forward’.

“People will say, ‘Oh, it’s Tim Burton-esque. It’s Wes Anderson-esque. It’s Erin Foster-esque.’ I just wasn’t adept enough in season one to realise it.”