Entertainment TV Scripted TV Shows William Jackson Harper Reflects on the End of The Good Place: 'There Was a Lot of Weird Crying' William Jackson Harper stars alongside Kristen Bell in The Good Place, which airs its final episode tonight By Scott Huver Scott Huver Scott Huver is a freelance writer-reporter at PEOPLE. He has been writing about entertainment, celebrity, pop culture, crime, fashion and the Los Angeles area for over 20 years. People Editorial Guidelines and Ally Mauch Ally Mauch Ally Mauch is a former news writer at PEOPLE. She left PEOPLE in 2022. People Editorial Guidelines Published on January 30, 2020 05:27PM EST William Jackson Harper is no longer worried about whether he’s bound for the good or the bad place. The Good Place, which features Jackson Harper as Chidi — a frustratingly indecisive philosophy professor — airs its final episode Thursday following four successful seasons. Jackson Harper, 39, stars alongside Kristen Bell, Ted Danson, Jameela Jamil, and D’Arcy Carden in the insightful comedy and said “it was tough to leave” when they wrapped up shooting. “There was a lot of weird crying,” Jackson Harper told PEOPLE at the Television Critics Association winter press tour. “For most of us, this is our most high-profile job, our most consistent job of our careers. To land on a show with such good people, and with such kind people, and such talented people, such smart people — it’s hard to say goodbye to that just because not every job is that.” As for where his character is headed, Jackson Harper said “there’s nothing I can do about it at this point” before adding that he’s “pretty sure most of us are bad place bound.” William Jackson Harper and Kristen Bell in The Good Place. NBC RELATED VIDEO: William Jackson Harper Reacts to ‘The Good Place’ Series Finale: ‘It’s the Right Thing to Do’ Creator Michael Schur announced the series’ final season on Twitter in June. He said he and the writing staff had previously decided four seasons “was the right lifespan.” “At times over the past few years we’ve been tempted to go beyond four seasons, but mostly because making this show is a rare, creatively fulfilling joy, and at the end of the day, we don’t want to tread water just because the water is so warm and pleasant,” he wrote. Jackson Harper said he and the rest of the cast knew The Good Place was “special,” noting that the unexpected twists and turns kept the show “fresh.” Getty Images “As soon as you get comfortable and as soon as you think you know what’s going on, the rug is ripped out from under you,” the actor said. “It’s always going to get weirder. It’s always going to up the ante in a way that is completely unexpected.” Jackson Harper is taking his own unexpected turns in his career — he’s currently working on Underground Railroad, a new Amazon drama series that he describes as “a completely different thing” from The Good Place. “The joy of [acting] is to explore different people and try to figure them out and try to inhabit them and understand them a little bit more,” he said. “So whatever opportunity I get to just completely take a 180 and go a different direction, that’s what I want to do.” The series finale of The Good Place airs Thursday at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC.