‘Central Park’: Kristen Bell says Molly reflects how she felt as a teenager and relates to her as an introvert
Loren Bouchard, Josh Gad, and Nora Smith’s Apple TV+ animated musical series ‘Central Park’ has won over viewers with it’s ‘Bob’s Burgers’ visual aesthetics, wholesome story, and catchy songs. The show follows the Tillerman family that lives inside the titular green expanse in New York City. Owen (Leslie Odom Jr.), the park manager, and Paige (Kathryn Hahn), his journalist wife, and their kids Molly (Kristen Bell) and Cole (Tituss Burgess) lead an idyllic existence.
Kristen Bell recently spoke to MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) about the show, her character, her new children’s book, and more.
Asked about her experience in lending her voice to this musical, and how it was different from singing for other roles, ‘The Good Place’ actor said, “This one was different because, with standard musicals, there’s generally one composer or songwriter for each show, so there’s some cohesion to the sound and voice. With ‘Central Park’, we brought in many different songwriters from many different genres, so it was incredibly fun to get to explore different facets of music.”
The songwriting credits for the show, just like the cast, is a dazzling ensemble. It includes female singer-songwriters like Sara Bareilles, Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple, Cyndi Lauper, and Meghan Trainor.
Her character Molly in ‘Central Park’ is a biracial teenager, who loves to draw and is mostly, socially awkward. When asked how playing that role was different, considering her usual roles are ones that exude confidence, Bell said, “I think there is often a misconception that I’m highly extroverted. I’ve spent most of my life thinking it about myself and holding that narrative, but throughout the past few years I’ve started to realize I’m more introverted than I thought.”
“I find my brain often feels at its best when there’s peace and often solitude, so I relate to Molly a lot. I also think Molly is such a wonderful depiction of what it looks like to be a teenager. She embodies what many teenagers (myself included) felt internally,” she added.
On the topic of her new children’s book ‘The World Needs More Purple People’, Bell said that it was “about finding the sameness in one another because we, as humans, are so much more similar than we are different.”
“Purple people are the ones that feel that sameness -- they prioritize kindness, laughter, and empathy. Kids are much more hard-wired to be purple. As adults, our purple starts to fade as we start picking camps, choosing groups, and seeing people as ‘other’. Purple is a nice neutral, middle-ground color,” she said.
Bell also spoke about life in the coronavirus lockdowns, saying that it had many ups and downs. “At first, I was obsessed with structure and as it turns out, that just made everyone miserable, so we readjusted and have just committed to making sure we do at least one thing every day to get our brains and bodies moving,” she said. “My quarantine mantra is 'keep doing what’s working and when that is no longer working, let it go'.”
She added that her daughters were handling the lockdown pretty well, adding, “They like the extra family time, as do I.”
“I rely so heavily on my mommy community for their wisdom, for venting and often just for physical support -- it takes more than two hands to get two kids out the door,” she said about her Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class – Short Format Daytime Program nominated show ‘Momsplaining’. “We thought it would be helpful and fun to bring all the moms out there some support and some advice from experts, some laughter and just some solidarity.”
Asked whether she has any projects lined for the future, Bell said, “I have a few things in the works, but I’ve totally relinquished the idea of planning ahead. Just trying to take it one day at a time.”
Catch new episodes of ‘Central Park’ every Friday on Apple TV+.
