William Jackson Harper on landing his role in “The Good Place”

William Jackson Harper, star of NBC’s “The Good Place,” was contemplating quitting acting before he landed his career-making role. “I had that conversation I think a lot of actors have with themselves,” Harper recounts. “‘Is this ever going to work out?’” The round of auditions that led to “The Good Place” was, Harper had resolved, going to be his last effort to break through. “There wasn’t as much weight about, ‘I have to get a job,’” Harper says. “It was just really enjoying being there and being present.”