Linda Cardellini reunites with ‘Dead to Me’ creator for ‘No Good Deed’

Real Housewives and Erewhon girlies inspired Linda Cardellini’s character in No Good Deed, Netflix’s new dark comedy that reunites the star with her Dead to Me collaborator Liz Feldman.

Exploring the Dark Comedy of No Good Deed

Cardellini plays Margo Starling, a status seeker in the real estate business, in the eight-episode series centered on three families vying to purchase the same 1920s Spanish-style home in the picturesque Los Angeles enclave of Los Feliz. At the center of the sale are homeowners and spouses Lydia (played by Lisa Kudrow) and Paul Morgan (Ray Romano), empty nesters with dark secrets and unresolved trauma. Among the hopefuls with their sights set on the property is the conniving Margo, who lives on the Morgans’ block.

The Genesis of No Good Deed

The foundation for No Good Deed was first laid during production of the third and final season of Dead to Me, after Cardellini expressed a desire to play a character the complete opposite of Judy once the series came to an end. Well, Margo is the complete opposite of Judy, indeed.

Embracing New Characters and Twists

“To me, that is the really fun part of what I get to do for a living, is to play something that’s different from the last thing that I’ve done,” Cardellini tells Entertainment Weekly. “I just love how Liz creates these characters that are filled with secrets and deceit. There’s a lot of different layers, and then there are all these twists, and that is just really fun to do.”  

From her wardrobe and hair to her cutthroat personality, there’s certainly a hint of Housewives in Margo, who, in perhaps her only likeness to Judy, has some buried secrets of her own. “I watched some Bravo,” says Cardellini of becoming Margo. “I had never seen any of those shows, so I had definitely watched some. And I thought the heightened drama of all of that really spoke to how Liz was writing this, too. There’s always some heightened drama between characters.”

Cardellini admittedly also mined from folks in her own orbit. “Margo sees people as a transaction; everything that happens is for her own gain,” observes Cardellini. “And so I tried to think of people in my life who move through the world like that. When something hits me hard, I can stay in that moment and in that grief a little longer than somebody like Margo does. So in that respect, I took it upon myself to look at people I didn’t necessarily understand and try to understand. Not necessarily the Housewives, but just in terms of people you interact with in daily life who will cut in front of you in line.”

Bringing Margo to Life

“You could see her somewhere in L.A., not just on screen,” she adds. “I feel like you could bump into somebody like her at the supermarket.” (Waiting in line for a Hailey Bieber smoothie at Erewhon, perhaps.)

The Star-Studded Cast and Dynamic Energies

The ensemble cast features Denis Leary, Teyonah Parris, O-T Fagbenle, Abbi Jacobson, Poppy Liu, and Luke Wilson, the latter playing Cardellini’s onscreen husband JD Campbell, a morose out-of-work soap opera actor. Wilson and Cardellini previously shared the screen in the 2001 rom-com Legally Blonde, and the mini-reunion marked the first time the two crossed paths since then.

Cardellini is excited for audiences to experience the “different energies that we bring to the characters,” she says of the star-studded cast. “The show is just really fun to watch. You can tell it’s in the same world as Dead to Me, but it’s a very different show. It’s a fun romp.”

Experience No Good Deed

All eight episodes of No Good Deed are on the market now.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Who is the main character in No Good Deed?

A: Linda Cardellini plays Margo Starling, a status seeker in the real estate business, in the dark comedy series.

Q: What inspired the creation of No Good Deed?

A: The foundation for the series was laid during production of the final season of Dead to Me, as Cardellini expressed a desire to play a character opposite to her role as Judy.

Q: What can viewers expect from the show?

A: Viewers can expect a mix of drama, secrets, deceit, and twist-filled storylines in the world of No Good Deed.

Credit: ew.com