'Broke' Jameela Jamil almost turned down 'The Good Place' role

Jameela Jamil’s journey to Hollywood wasn’t exactly planned, but it was perfectly timed.

During a March 4 episode of David Tennant Does a Podcast With…, the actress and activist revealed she had just $17 in her bank account when she landed her breakout role on The Good Place as Tahani al-Jamil.

Before that, she had left her BBC Radio 1 gig in 2015, convinced she was done with TV.

“I just didn't want to be on TV anymore… and so I just f***ed off,” Jamil, now 39, told Tennant, sharing that she wanted to give writing and DJ-ing a shot.

Jamil spent time touring with her musician boyfriend, but when her funds ran out, she was “desperate” for work. “Please can I have a job, any job, I will do anything,” she recalled thinking.

Instead of a typical gig, she was handed auditions — including one for a Las Vegas magic show and another for The Good Place. At first, she resisted. “I had never acted before and just thought that was sacrilege.”

Her path to the audition was unconventional. She had pitched a show, and executives encouraged her to try acting to gain industry credibility. 

“They were the ones who said, ‘We want you to go to this audition for Mike Schur. You'll have more power as a writer if you have a name for yourself, or you can just meet him and maybe he'll put you in the writer's room,’” she recalled.

In the end, she had to choose between The Good Place and the magic show. She went with acting.

Looking back, Jamil credits her success to luck and timing, saying, “It’s ridiculous… but I’m having a lovely time and working very hard.”