DEADLINE: Youre ramping up forShrinkingSeason 2.
Tell me Brett Goldstein is going to star in it this time?
I just think hes brilliant.
Jason Segel in ‘Shrinking.‘Apple TV+
I think hes funny.
I also think that [hisTed Lassocharacter] Roy is a kind of gruff exterior.
Bretts a really gentle guy.
Segel and Harrison Ford inShrinking.Apple TV+
That sounds like a euphemism, but thats not what I meant [laughs].
In my head, when I look at Brett, Im like, Oh, hes a romantic lead.
Im excited to see him do stuff like that.
SEGEL: I believe that that happened in London.
I think that Brett was shootingLasso, and Harrison was shootingIndiana Jones.
I went to Harrisons house on my own once he signed on.
All the way leading up, youre like, Oh, Ive done this a long time.
Thisll be great, just a couple of actors talking shop.
Then you pull up to Harrison Fords house, and suddenly, you realize youre terrified.
You look in the rearview mirror, and youre drenched in sweat.
Just when you start to dry off, the gate starts to open, and its too late.
You dont want him to see you drying the sweat, so you play it cool.
Theres a reason hes Harrison Ford.
Youre the real deal.
You feel it in the room, same with Sally Field, who I worked with.
Why do you think he chose that?
SEGEL: Getting to rock bottom is drama.
But rock bottom is actually a pretty funny place.
So, you dont know it at the time, but its actually a very hopeful place to start.
If you start someone at the peak, I can tell you where theyre going: down.
Starting someone at rock bottom is actually a recipe for feel-good.
SEGEL: Yeah, for me, it wasBroadcast News.
Its like where youre laughing your way through really tough conversations.
That scene between Albert Brooks and Holly Hunter.
He basically says, Im in love with you.
And she says, Im in love with Tom.
And I think that that really inspired me.
Its like Im not that interested in seeing someone be clever.
People dont talk that way.
People dont think that fast when theyre under duress.
SEGEL: I didnt know that.
DEADLINE: How did you feel when you first read the premise?
I kind of know how to do it.
Drama was something that I had been working really hard to feel that same way about.
But then comedy found me.
And I didnt get a chance to hone those skills.
DEADLINE: In the case of Jimmys patients, maybe a lot of them needed to hear the truth.
DEADLINE:…is very, very loosely inspired by?
He had that same frustration from years of real practice of saying, This is a loop.
This is just a feedback loop.
Its like, Oh, great, got it.
My mom said this when I was 15, thats why Im doing this.
And I think its like a revolution.
Thats certainly what Im looking for.
Man, I just want to feel better in general.
You know what I mean?
I have a sense of impending doom.
And I have to work pretty hard to counter that.
And I think that alone is frustrating and hilarious.
Almost everyone I talk to about it nods their head.
And I dont think theyre just being kind.
I think theyre like, Oh yeah, life is pretty hard.
Otherwise, its really boring.
DEADLINE: Were there some scenes that really affected you?
SEGEL: Yeah, there was a scene where I couldnt stop laughing.
Jessica Williams makes me laugh really hard.
Theres a scene where we wake up in bed after having slept together.
And it is this frantic scene of us each getting dressed and realizing everyone is still downstairs.
Then I think the things that affected me most were these scenes with Lukita Maxwell, my daughter.
That, to me, was the most important storyline in the thing.
Because thats the ultimate betrayal that Jimmy has committed.
Its like the filmForce Majeure.
DEADLINE: Where the dad bails on protecting his kids in an avalanche?
Youre supposed to sacrifice yourself for your kid.
He backed out of the room and let her take the hit.
When you see sadness in Jimmy, theres nothing quite as sad as guilt.
And its a really interesting version of sadness, right?
Because its also secret.
Its sad and a secret combined.
Jimmy bailed when it was time to do the thing, the one thing youre supposed to do.
DEADLINE: Brett Goldstein recently said how important it was that the actor playing Jimmy could bring likeability.
Because in another actors hands, seeing him fail his daughter to that degree wouldve just ended it.
SEGEL: Well, I dont know.
But theres redemption on the other side by trying to make amends and trying to be better next time.
So, I guess I have space in my heart for redemption.
Its like,Oh, youre going to have to fix that.
DEADLINE: Jessica Williams says she improvised at times.
And did Harrison Ford?
And he was good at it.
Hes really, really good at it.
There was a whole potato run, where I end up eating these potatoes.
[He said] Do whatever you want with them.
Boil them, bake them.
That was a riff that came out of his mouth.
He is really smart, hes really funny and he really understands acting.
