They\u2019re already shooting Season 4, but the\u00a0Shrinking\u00a0cast \u2014 co-creator\/co-writer Jason Segel, Harrison Ford, Jessica Williams and Michael Urie \u2014 took a break to chat about their Emmy-nominated third season at Deadline\u2019s Contenders Television: The Nominees Studio.<\/p>\n
Segel, who stars as Jimmy and serves as executive producer and writer alongside Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein, teased a little about the upcoming season of the Apple TV comedy series, after Season 3 scored 10 Emmy nominations including for Outstanding Comedy Series.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew that we wanted to get out of the acute stage of grief as a show because it will run out of steam eventually,\u201d Segel said. \u201cSo we had a lot of talks about what another cycle could look like. What was interesting to me is what does it look like when you then decide, \u2018OK, I\u2019m ready to take it for a spin now. I\u2019ve reached the end of the acute stage. I\u2019m going to walk out this front door and try to have a good day.\u2019 Sounds great, but it turns out it\u2019s its own set of clumsiness and hilarity, and it almost feels like a bit of a rom-com to me, to try again at 45 years old. I think there is a lot of fun in there.\u201d<\/p>\n
RELATED: Contenders Television: The Nominees Studio \u2013 Deadline\u2019s Complete Coverage<\/p>\n
The show follows Jimmy, a grief-stricken therapist who decides to try radical honesty with his patients, with mixed results \u2014 helped and hindered by his fellow shrinks, Paul (Ford) and Gaby (Williams), along with his best friend and lawyer Brian (Urie).<\/p>\n
Watch the Contenders conversation below with the cast (all also Emmy-nominated this year), and scroll down for photos from the event.<\/p>\n
In Season 3, Jeff Daniels appeared as Jimmy\u2019s father, and Segel said that had been a great revelation in what drives Jimmy and his perception of Paul as a kind of father figure. \u201cYou are given the reason that somebody is lacking or defective or yearning for something, and you see it really literally when Jeff Daniels arrives. It makes his obsession with Paul suddenly make sense. This guy has never had somebody tell him that he did a good job. He\u2019s never had someone put his arm around and say, \u2018It\u2019s going to be OK, kid.\u2019 All of these things that we suddenly understand, like, \u2018Oh, this is what it\u2019s all been about for Jimmy, and through Paul, he\u2019s just looking for somebody he admires and respects to tell him he\u2019s doing OK.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Ford spoke about his enjoyment of the Paul-Jimmy dynamic, which deepened in Season 3 as Paul\u2019s Parkinson\u2019s symptoms advanced. \u201cI think the relationship is complicated,\u201d Ford said. \u201cI think there\u2019s the surface relationship which is pretty clear, but then there\u2019s something else between these two guys, and I think it\u2019s each of them finding themselves through their relationship with each other. There\u2019s something that he touches in me that I have not found in my character\u2019s life. There\u2019s something in my character that he has not found in his character\u2019s life. And there\u2019s something about the casting as well. This big guy and this old man are kind of a usual combination. \u2026 And the writing is so good. The people that I\u2019m working with are so talented and free and happy to be doing what they\u2019re doing. It\u2019s just been a joy for me to be involved in the show.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Williams, Gaby and Jimmy\u2019s no-holds-barred back and forth is like a \u201cvolley\u201d she said, with Segel always returning the serve. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing really you can give him that he\u2019s not going to show up and be excited about and ready to do. I think we all want to do this show to the best of our ability, and have it succeed. And a big part of that is when No. 1 on the call sheet is down to clown \u2026 it trickles from the top down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Urie\u2019s character Brian has become a parent this season. What was it like for Urie to play a narcissistic guy forced to put someone else first?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s awesome to get to play a guy that\u2019s evolving,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t even know if the character was a narcissist until a literal therapist told me halfway through Season 2, and I was like, \u2018Have I been doing that?\u2019 But now because the show is so mature we get to see him change. We don\u2019t just leave him there to face adventures that way. And all the characters have their flaws. They\u2019re in this beautiful chosen family of yes, a bunch of therapists, but also a bunch of empathetic people that love each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
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