The cast of Apple TV+’s hit comedy series Shrinking gathered in Hollywood for a packed Deadline x Apple TV+ Shrinking FYC Event to discuss why the show has hit a nerve, and is even getting better in Season 2.
Jason Segel and Brett Goldstein, who also executive produce and are co-creators of the show (along with Bill Lawrence), joined a panel for SAG-AFTRA members at Harmony Gold that included series co-stars Harrison Ford, Jessica Williams, Christa Miller, Lukita Maxwell, Luke Tennie and Ted McGinley.
You can watch the conversation here.
Segel started it off by explaining how he got involved behind the scenes as well as getting the role of Jimmy, a therapist who probably has more problems than all of his patients.
‘Well, I got very, very lucky on this one. I had known Bill a little bit, and he had called me a couple years before Shrinking and said, like, we should try to do a show together, which is a really exciting call to get Bill, the best at what he does, and and we, like, shared a few ideas back and forth, but nothing really stuck,” he said. “And then he texted me at one point and said, ‘Hey, I think, I think we have an idea. You want to hop on a Zoom with me and Brett Goldstein?’ And I didn’t know Brett at all, and they pitched me this idea, and I just fell in love with it. It’s this beautiful mix of comedy and drama, which I think is the tone that I grew up loving, like Broadcast News, the early James Brooks kind of tone, where you’re laughing and crying in the same scene and and I basically got to catch a free ride on this one. And I felt really lucky.”
Segel hilariously told a story about his own experience in therapy with an ex-girlfriend. “I once had a couples therapists when I was younger. I don’t want to say the partner that I was with, but one time she, my partner, walked out of the room to get to go to the bathroom in the middle of the session, and the therapist turned to me and said, ‘Well, she’s not the one.’ I swear to God, yeah,” he laughed, adding all of the quirky things the therapist would tell him about herself during other breaks when the girlfriend was not there.
“And then, my ex came back into the room, we continued the session, and I had this secret, and I just learned we’re not supposed to have secrets. … But I just think it’s interesting like to find out that behind the scenes, someone who’s supposed to be responsible is a total mess.”
Scroll across to see photos from the evening.
Lukita Maxwell, Jessica Williams, Christa Miller, Ted McGinley, Luke Tennie, Harrison Ford, Jason Segel, Brett Goldstein at the Deadline x Apple TV+ “Shrinking FYC” event held at Harmony Gold on December 13, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
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Luke Tennie, Brett Goldstein, Lukita Maxwell, Jason Segel, Harrison Ford, Christa Miller, Jessica Williams, Pete Hammond, andTed McGinley
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Brett Goldstein
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Pete Hammond, Jason Segel, Brett Goldstein, Harrison Ford, Jessica Williams, Christa Miller, Lukita Maxwell, Luke Tennie, andTed McGinley
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Brett Goldstein, Harrison Ford
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Jason Segel, Brett Goldstein, Harrison Ford
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Lukita Maxwell, Luke Tennie, Ted McGinley at the Deadline x Apple TV+ “Shrinking FYC” event held at Harmony Gold on December 13, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Rich Polk
Luke Tennie, Ted McGinley
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Luke Tennie, Ted McGinley
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Lukita Maxwell, Luke Tennie, Ted McGinley
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Jessica Williams
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Harrison Ford, Jessica Williams
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For Ford, an iconic movie star for decades, he said he has never quite had an experience with fans like he has with this show. “I mean, everyone has a phone, everyone is on social media these days, the usual exchange. … So they want a picture, yeah, or they want something,” he said.
“But the people who come to me now say, ‘Hey, excuse me. I just wanted to tell you, we love that show. We watch it with my family, and we love it’ and then they turn around and go away. No picture, nothing, because what they’re doing is they’re knitting into this empathetic framework, and they’re not seeing me as an actor, they’re seeing me as somebody that they’ve had this experience with. And it’s a phenomenal change.”
Apple TV+ renewed Shrinking for Season 3 in October, the day after Season 2 premiered. Seasons 1 and 2 are currently streaming on the service.