For actor D'Arcy Carden, the offer to star in a new sitcom called Sunny Nights seemed almost too good to be true. The project would film in Australia, a country she'd long wanted to visit, be directed by her The Good Place collaborator Trent O'Donnell, and potentially co-star comedy legend Will Forte. The only thing giving her pause was the fear the script might not live up to the perfect setup.
A dream gig down under
Carden admits she was crossing her fingers when the script finally arrived. Her fears, however, were quickly allayed. "They sent it to me, and it was so, so good," Carden told PLAY via Zoom. "It was just a bit of a no brainer. It was really an easy thing to say yes to." That decision led her to spend several months in Sydney filming the offbeat series, which began streaming on Stan in late December 2025.
In Sunny Nights, Carden plays Vicki Marvin, who moves to Australia with her brother Martin, portrayed by Will Forte. Their ambitious plan is to build a spray tan empire, a premise Carden describes as inherently funny—akin to selling coal to Newcastle. Their entrepreneurial dreams quickly spiral into chaos when they are accidentally sucked into Sydney's criminal underworld. The ensuing plot involves blackmail, mayhem, murder, and notably, an exploding crocodile.
The art of smart comedy
The series fits neatly into Carden's portfolio of unconventional comedies, which includes roles in Broad City and her breakout part as the all-knowing Janet in The Good Place. She proudly labels herself a comedy snob, drawn to projects that break from traditional sitcom formulas.
"A lot of comedies that I read aren't actually really funny. They're just, like, formulaic funny," Carden explains. She seeks out work from intelligent writers, citing the team behind The Good Place as "smart comedy geniuses." For Carden, the personal humour quotient is paramount. She trusts her gut when reading a script and values being in something she finds hilarious over sheer popularity.
"If I do a comedy that doesn't hit with an audience but I think it's funny, I don't actually care," she states. "If I know in my heart, in my comedy brain, it was funny, then I feel like it's a win no matter what."
Embracing the Australian lifestyle
Despite this focus on artistic satisfaction, Carden is optimistic about Sunny Nights finding a broad audience. With its hybrid cast from the US, Australia, and New Zealand, she anticipates global appeal. "It's comedy and it's drama and it's a thriller and it's a mystery, and I think that's universal," she says.
Her time in Australia left a profound impression, so much so that she and Forte frequently discuss what it would take to move there permanently. Initial worries about Australian spiders—fueled by "a lot of spider messaging in America"—gave way to a deep appreciation for the outdoor lifestyle.
"We loved it so much," Carden recalls. "We were outside every day... I really did some traveling and went into the ocean every day and walked to the beach every day. I felt very alive and very healthy and I'd like to get back there ASAP."
Should the stars align for a second season, D'Arcy Carden is more than ready to return to Sydney for another Sunny Nights adventure.
