How Kirston Leigh Mann Turned Ted Danson Into a Suit-Wearing Spy for ‘A Man on the Inside’ Season 2

Picture Credits: Netflix / Getty Images

Few cats are as cool as Charles Nieuwendyk. The architect-turned professor-turned private investigator is a man of style. A Man on the Inside with impeccable taste, that’s the Nieuwendyk way. 

In season two of the heartfelt comedy series, costume designer Kirston Leigh Mann shows his growth as a private investigator. Charles plays things a little more cloak-and-dagger with more swagger to boot. It’s a delight for any fans of damn fine suits, which Ted Danson wears exceptionally well. 

Mann is a prominent voice in creator Michael Schur’s comedy world, having worked with him on Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn-Nine Nine, and The Good Place. “Michael gives me a lot of freedom,” Mann told What’s On Netflix, “and when someone does that, you have a chance to be so much more creative than when people are indecisive or want to really press something that might not work in the end. He is such a great boss.” 

Charles looks fantastic on this show. Him being an architect, how does that influence Charles dresses? How well put together he is really reflects his line of work.

Right? He’s so fastidious. We wanted to make it so that he is very particular and he does everything in a particular way. Even the way that he cuts out articles, he does everything in the right way, and I do feel like his costumes reflect that. He’s very crisp, and he’s got his own kind of uniform, which progresses as the seasons have progressed. In season two, we tried to make him a little more James Bond. We tried to get that. He’s leaning a little bit more into the spy, so he wears a lot more suits and a lot less cardigan, tweedy things.

I think you established that very well with his opening scene in the bar. You made him suave. How does Ted Danson wear suits so well? 

He looks so great in so many suits. I mean, it’s funny. We did The Good Place with Ted also. I know him so well and what looks good on him. He’s a tall drink of water — and I say that being very close to his wife. He looks good in everything, so it’s hard not to dress Ted well. You would have to make a big effort to fail on that front. I don’t want to take a lot of credit for dressing a tall, handsome man. 

But yeah, we get him so many suits. He looks good in a Ted Baker suit, and he keeps it very easy. Although we make a lot of suits for him from scratch that we do because he’s specific. He knows what looks good on himself. He’s been on camera for many decades, and so we have a great tailor, and he makes a lot of suits for us. Anytime in our life, one shoulder might be a little higher than the other, and so we are manipulating that to give perfect symmetry, and I hope we succeed.

A Man on the Inside. (L to R) Ted Danson as Charles, Mary Steenburgen as Mona in episode 201 of A Man on the Inside. Cr. Colleen E. Hayes/Netflix © 2025

Yeah, you do. Even his height and slenderness, being “a tall glass of water, must help. 

I mean, it’s like a model. We call them hangers. I’m sure you’ve heard that expression before. It just means everything looks good on a hanger, but not everything looks good on me, Kirsten. But Ted is a hanger. Things actually look better on him than they do on the hanger, which is a rare feat. And yeah, it just makes it easier. That’s the truth. We’re all working around our body types, and when you’re tall and a perfect suit size — that would be the sample size, what the designer had in mind — then it makes it much easier.

When building those suits from scratch, what are the colors or the fabrics you’re often thinking of for Charles? 

Making him more James Bond, we were leaning a little bit darker and into blues and browns. I generally don’t like to use a lot of black on camera because I feel like it looks like a little bit of a hole in the visual. But Ted looks good in everything. He looks good in greens and blues and browns, so it’s easy. I think we just really were trying to lean into what would make him look most like a spy, even though he does end up working in a university campus.

What about his pocket squares and shoes? 

The pocket squares are funny. The Good Place had one kind of pocket square, and The Man on the Inside has another. We just fold them all in advance and kind of sew them down and put them in his pocket, not to be fussy. Ted’s dresser, Wes Albrecht, is the best. He works on set. I don’t know how much time you’ve spent on set. 

A little bit.

We have set people. So there’s the people that are shopping the show, and I’m designing the show, and then we have people on the set that are working directly while we’re shooting. While one person’s shopping, one person’s on set working with the actor. I think it’s been 22 years since I’ve known Wes. He keeps an eye on Ted and makes sure everything’s perfect, and he’s incredibly neurotic about how the pocket square lies and how the tie is tied.

What about when Charles goes sleuthing in the art class? His trenchcoat is very film noir, which again, very on brand for Charles’ taste. 

That was sourced. We often need doubles, so we are sourcing and driving around trying to grab what we can, and that wasn’t made, I remember. I think he falls in the fountain in that trenchcoat. There’s always a little bit of a hustle to try to get multiples. He doesn’t fall in once, because there’s a stunt double, and we always need multiples as those things are happening.

Which Bond was the influence for Charles in season two? Connery or Moore?

Well, that’s so funny. I think that’s a very good question. I’d say Roger Moore, but I wonder if Ted would agree. Of those two, it’s not the newer ones, but I think in my mind it’s Roger Moore. 

Since you and Ted Danson have worked together quite a bit now, what do you two usually discuss when you start collaborating in the fitting? 

We spent many years together on The Good Place, so we definitely catch up with his kids and grandkids. And Mary worked with us this season, so it’s very familiar, I’ll say. But talking about the character, we wanted to tease him apart from Michael from The Good Place. And that was our biggest goal, because both of them wear suits. Where do we draw that line? And they both had similar elements, so we were just trying to kind of tease apart those two characters. And I think we just talked about—obviously, he’s more human. He is human. Not to be a spoiler alert for The Good Place.

Have you heard the theories about The Good Place and The Man on the Inside, about Michael and Charles?

Yes. What have you heard? I don’t tell, though. I do know some things, but what did you hear, or what are people saying?

According to Reddit — a very reliable source— Charles is one of Michael’s go-arounds on Earth.

And have you kind of put together the puzzle, or no?

My brain does not play 3D chess.

It’s funny, I wonder who caught it. I’m always waiting for someone to catch it, but so far haven’t. You’re the first person to mention it that’s outside of our circle.

So would you say, without confirming or denying, it’s a sound theory?

I think it’s an interesting theory. I would say, if you see an Easter egg, don’t discount it.

Okay. Everything matters.

Everything matters. If you’re a very big Mike Schur fan, you’ll see connections in so many things.

A Man on the Inside. (L to R) Stephen McKinley Henderson as Calbert, Mary Elizabeth Ellis as Emily, Eugene Cordero as Joel, Stephanie Beatriz as Didi, Lincoln Lambert as Nico, Constance Marie as Vanessa in episode 205 of A Man on the Inside. Cr. Colleen E. Hayes/Netflix © 2025

I really appreciate how his brain works as a storyteller.

I’m sure he would love that Reddit line. He’s waiting for some fun to happen. Whether it’s accurate or not, there’s little tiny things if you’re a very astute viewer. It’s funny, someone sent me a DM. I barely go on Instagram, but the other day someone asked about that connection, and it was the first time. So I lied – one woman who’s from Spain asked if there was a connection. That’s the only time someone’s asked me.

In addition to Ted Danson, you also work with Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph a lot in your career. 

I am so lucky. I think I’m the luckiest person in the whole business.

It seems rare for a costume designer to have that kind of long-lasting relationship with collaborators, to build characters again and again. 

It’s true. Maya and I have done a minimum of seven projects together, and I’m sure I’ve done that many with Amy. I did her movies. I mean, especially Maya and Amy, they are my friends. They became friends after all these years. We’ve had babies together and teenagers together and LA fires together.  Amy and I lived down the street from each other in New York.

In addition to those long relationships, my crew has been with me forever. A lot of them started as PAs, and they’re all the costume supervisors. [Costume supervisor] Alexis Jack has been with me, I don’t know, maybe 14 years. Everyone’s been with me over 10 years. Kind of crazy. Beckett McMahan started out as a PA, and now she’s an assistant costume designer.

There’s really a consistency to the work you all do.

I would say Mike Schur and Morgan Sackett, who’s our executive producer, have created such a family.