D'Arcy Beth Carden (born Darcy Beth Erokan; January 4, 1980) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for portraying Janet in the NBC sitcom The Good Place (2016–2020), for which she earned a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, and Greta Gill in the Prime series A League of Their Own (2022). She also played Gemma in Broad City (2014–2019) and Natalie Greer in the HBO dark comedy series Barry (2018–2023).

Carden began her career performing improvisational comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. She went on to make appearances in several television series, including Inside Amy Schumer (2015), Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2016), and Veep (2017). She has also acted in films such as Other People (2016), Let It Snow (2019), and Bombshell (2019). She made her Broadway debut in The Thanksgiving Play (2023).

Carden was born Darcy Beth Erokan in Danville, California,^[1] on January 4, 1980,^[2][3][4] the daughter of an American mother and Turkish father. Her father, Dennis Erokan, left Istanbul for California with his family when he was a child.^[5] He acted in local community theater productions, and later founded the music magazine BAM and its computer-focused spinoff MicroTimes.^[1][6] Carden has two sisters named Miranda and Laney and one brother named Will.^[1] Inspired by The Smashing Pumpkins' bassist D'arcy Wretzky, she added an apostrophe to the spelling of her name when she was in junior high.^[7][8] She graduated from San Ramon Valley High School in 1998, and later received a BFA in Theater from Southern Oregon University.^[6]

After graduating from college, Carden moved to New York City.^[6][9] She joined musical comedy company Venus Rising and appeared in Seven Hearts (2001), a musical about friends living in San Francisco.^[10] The following year, she directed, produced, and starred in a holiday show in which the main character is upset that her family is obsessed with her selfish sister's wedding rather than keeping up their Christmas spirit.^[11] Early on while pursuing her acting career, Carden also worked as a nanny for Bill Hader.^[12][13]

A friend invited Carden to an improvisational sketch comedy show at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (UCB),^[6][14] which she enjoyed the show so much that she signed on for classes and kept progressing with the group.^[14] She started with UCB in 2004 and later toured with the UCB Touring company.^[15] By 2010, she was using her married surname Carden professionally when she was a cast member for The Ride, an interactive show performed on New York City tour buses.^[16] In 2013, Carden co-created and co-starred in Terrible Babysitters, a Web original about two parents who want to find a babysitter.^[17][18]

Carden had a recurring role as Gemma in the Comedy Central comedy series Broad City (2014–2019),^[14] a series created by fellow UCB alumnae Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson.^[9] Carden also appeared in guest roles in the comedy series Inside Amy Schumer (2015), Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2016), and Veep (2017).^[6] Following small roles in the parody film iSteve (2013) and the romantic comedy The To Do List (2013), she appeared as Jessica in the acclaimed comedy-drama film Other People (2016).^[9]

In 2016, Carden began starring as live virtual assistant Janet in the NBC comedy series The Good Place,^{[14][19][20][21]} which also stars Kristen Bell and Ted Danson.^[6] For her performance in the series, she received critical acclaim and earned nominations for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

Since 2018, Carden has had a recurring role as Natalie Greer in the HBO dark comedy-crime series Barry, starring Hader.^[13][22] Along with her fellow cast members, she was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 2018 and 2019.^[23][24]

In 2019, she appeared in the dark comedy film Greener Grass, the romantic comedy film Let It Snow, and the drama film Bombshell. She also appeared in the Netflix comedy series Bonding and the Adult Swim animated comedy series Robot Chicken.

In 2020, Carden had a recurring role on the Quibi mystery-comedy series Mapleworth Murders.^[25]

Carden made her Broadway debut on April 20, 2023, as Alicia in The Thanksgiving Play, written by Larissa FastHorse and directed by Rachel Chavkin.^[26]

In 2024, SmartLess Media debuted WikiHole, a podcast fronted by Carden and featuring "a panel of comedians who fall down a Wikipedia rabbit hole of bizarre and intriguing connections."^[27]

Carden met producer Jason Carden on a trip to Disneyland with mutual friends,^[28] and they were married on July 31, 2010.^[29] In 2013, they moved from New York City to Los Angeles.^[29][30]

Before finding success in the entertainment industry, Carden worked as a full-time nanny for her future Barry co-star Bill Hader and his then-wife Maggie Carey; she maintains a close relationship with their three daughters.^[31]