'The Good Place' Star William Jackson Harper Isn't Ready to Say Goodbye

Don't feel too bad for William Jackson Harper, who last week had to play dead for an entire episode of The Good Place. But last night's episode more than made up for it with a previously untold story of Chidi's personal journey throughout his many, many afterlives. It's as great a performance as we've gotten from Harper throughout the series as Team Cockroach's stomachache-prone moral compass.

Harper, who is calling me today from the set of Amazon's Underground Railroad series, after filming had been temporarily delayed due to bad weather, still has a lot to say about Chidi Anagonye, existentialism, and how much he's going to miss the show. Moreover, he gets to flex his "not so ethical" acting muscles in Todd Haynes's new movie, Dark Waters, a true-story thriller that will mess you up.

GQ caught up with everyone's favorite professor of ethics and moral philosophy (oh, what, like you know a different one?) about leaving behind one of the best sitcoms in recent memory, the very American lessons behind Dark Waters, and the one trend from the decade he absolutely hates with a passion.

William Jackson Harper: It was a full five days. Five. Just being dead weight. Honestly, it was a little bit trickier than I thought it would be. It's very hard to relax every muscle in your body but also to maintain your position. I thought it was gonna be like, okay, I can kind of sleep, but if you actually went to sleep, your mouth would open, you start to snore or you drool or something like that. You can't do that.

Oh, man. [ Pauses] I feel I personally have said goodbye. I'm done with the show. We're not coming back next year to see each other. It's strange. I've had this sort of built-in social network for the last four years. Like-minded, wonderful individuals, and I think that's what I'm going to miss most: Just being on set with them. I'll never forget it, and I don't know that I'll ever experience something like that again. Sometimes you think, "Oh, there'll be a next time, there'll be a thing I really enjoy," and as much as I've liked the work I've gotten to do beyond the show, there's nothing like the family I built there. Yeah, it's sad.

There are a lot of things he and I have in common. I think he's kind of the manifestation of my inner monologue in a lot of ways. It's also been kind of therapeutic for me to play someone who deals with the things I deal with, and to see it manifested in such a clear way. But Chidi actually says things, and talks about it when he's stressed. When I'm feeling particularly...paralyzed, I get very quiet and go away. No one hears from me for weeks.

I think he's helped me in my own life to perhaps be a little more direct in my communication. It feels like, for me now, there's more clarity about how to do the right thing. He's also just so fun to play. He's hyper-verbal, he's a nerd, I get to be incredibly excited at times, which I don't feel comfortable being in my own life sometimes.