Good Omens’ Adria Arjona Admits She ‘Did Try to Quit’ Show Over Early Career Acting Nerves: ‘I Was So Scared’
“I was at a point in my career that nothing should have been offered to me,” the actress said in a new interview with InStyle
Although Good Omens creator Neil Gaiman was convinced Adria Arjona needed to be in the series, she wasn’t entirely convinced she deserved her role.
The actress joined Hit Man costar Glen Powell for an interview with InStyle and confessed that she once tried to quit the comedy series Good Omens before she even approached the set.
“It was too much pressure. I was so scared,” she admitted to the outlet. “And it was the first role that was ever just offered to me, which is so bizarre. I was at a point in my career that nothing should have been offered to me.”
The comedy series premiered in 2019 on Amazon Prime Video. It is based on Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s 1990 novel, and the former created the series. Good Omens stars David Tennant and Michael Sheen and follows an angel (Sheen) and a demon (Tennant) who work together to stop Armageddon.
The 32-year-old actress explained that Gaiman had confidence in her portrayal.
“[Gaiman] was like, ‘No, it’s you. I see you and I only see you in this role,’ ” Arjona told InStyle. “And I was like, How the hell do you even know who I am? And I think it was the first time that I felt really insecure about my take on a character because I didn’t earn it. Usually you go out, you audition, you work on it, and the director’s like, ‘Oh, I like her take on it, so I’m going to hire her.’ ”
“And this was the first time that they hadn’t seen me. So I went in really scared and really insecure, and Neil just took me under his wing and was like, ‘You’re going to be fine.’”
The actress explained that she then told the director of Good Omens, “‘Look, you can shoot me Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday in small scenes; you have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to find another actress.’ And he was like, ‘No, dude, it’s going to be you.’ ”
“And I kind of just figured it out as I was doing it,” Arjona said. “And she’s one of my favorite characters.”
She also explained that when she takes on a role, she wants “to just play the character and try to serve the story and serve the fan base, and protect it as much as [she] can.”
Arjona also commended the “really great leaders” she’s worked with, noting how she “got really lucky.”
“If you have [creator] Neil Gaiman, you’re like, ‘I’m fine.’ And you just follow their lead and tell those stories and then hope people like them.”
