“BoJack Horseman” star Will Arnett has said it’s “hard to let go” of the freshly concluded Netflix original, while admitting that the cast is still thinking up future iterations of the show.
Arnett, who voiced the washed-up Hollywoo star BoJack since the show’s debut in 2014, tells Variety: “It’s bittersweet. I feel satisfied with what we did. [Creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg] is an incredible writer and I feel fortunate I got to be a part of something like that, and ride his coattails a bit.”
The actor, who was at the BBC Showcase in Liverpool to promote his new BBC comedy “The First Team” with “The Conners” producer Tom Werner, adds that he’s “very happy with the way fans have reacted to (the ‘BoJack’ finale) and how the audience has grown.”
However, the “Arrested Development” and “Riviera” actor admits it’s still “hard to say goodbye.”
“Last week, we had a little screening in L.A. and Raphael, [Paul F. Tompkins] and [Aaron Paul] and I were talking. We were like, ‘What (else) can we do?’ We’re always doing that because it’s hard to let go,” he says.
“You do so many things over the course of your life and (when) you realize you’re part of something that’s really quite special, it’s important to take a moment to recognize it. It’s been a cool, weird time.”
The animated adult comedy, which formed a cult following during its tenure on Netflix, came to an end last month after six seasons. As Variety TV critic Caroline Framke wrote: “There’s never been a show like ‘BoJack Horseman.’ The Netflix series, which took its final bow on Jan. 31, defied easy categorization from day one with its anthropomorphic reimagining of Hollywoo(d), sharp turns into existential melancholy, cutting jokes, and embrace of all things strange and poignant.”
However, Arnett seems to have, for the moment, made peace with the show’s terminus and has a slate of other projects on the go.
His top priority in Liverpool was pitching football comedy “The First Man” – his second U.K. comedy outing following Channel 4’s “The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret – which is produced by “The Inbetweeners” creators Iain Morris and Damon Beesley via their production company Fudge Park.
Executive producer on the show is the well-matched Werner, who, in addition to serving as chairman for the Boston Red Sox, also wears the same hat for U.K. football club Liverpool F.C.
Variety understands that Amazon, which has invested heavily in sports-related originals in the last two years, is among the platforms looking at the show, which follows a trio of young football players with too much time and money on their hands. The streamer is believed to have taken a pitch for the title today.
The six-part series, which will deliver next month, is currently completing additional shooting, and is set to film a cameo with celebrated Liverpool F.C. coach Jürgen Klopp this week – one of the immensely popular German sporting figure’s first forays into entertainment.
Elsewhere, Arnett will again voice a series for a streamer, taking on the lead role in a new animated daily horoscope show for Quibi, which he is making alongside Werner.
“There’s been nothing like it before; it’s very unique,” says the actor of the as-yet-untitled show. “Different days will be focused on horoscopes for that day, but (told) in a funny, irreverent way. It’s not to the point where it’s inauthentic, but a fun way to digest that information.”