For Kristen Bell, it wasn’t very hard to tap into her character’s love story in Nobody Wants This. On the show, Joanne falls for Noah — someone who she does not have a lot of common with. According to Bell, the opposites-attract romance was easy to act out since it mirrors her real-life relationship with her husband Dax Shepard.
On Nobody Wants This, Bell’s Joanne finds herself constantly struggling to keep her relationship with rabbi Noah afloat, as the two star-crossed characters frequently butt heads over their opposing views on religion, sex, and dating. Bell says this polarizing tension is something she is drawn to in her own marriage.
“Having someone I feel that is very opposite from me is certainly something that I feel,” Bell told People on Oct. 23. “I feel like my real-life husband and I are ‘opposites attract.’ But that doesn’t mean we couldn’t make it work, or didn’t want to make it work.”
Bell pointed out how appreciating her differences from Shepard, whom she married in 2013, has helped their bond grow stronger. “It just meant we did have to have a lot of patience for each other to figure out what the compromises would be,” Bell said. “And a general understanding that we’re probably going to have different viewpoints on almost everything — and figure out a respectful way to have those discussions.”
Another true-to-life overlap? Bell’s character on Nobody Wants This is a popular podcaster, a world the actor has become much more familiar with after Shepard launched his hit podcast Armchair Expert in 2018. Bell revealed that podcasting has become her hubby’s new career, confirming that he has stepped away from acting. And unfortunately, that means Shepard isn’t likely to appear on a future season of Nobody Wants This, despite Bell’s efforts.
“I would of course want him to come on the show. He would never do it,” Bell said. “He’s kind of retired from acting. Maybe he’ll go back one day, but he loves podcasting and he’s not starved for opportunities.”
