The Apple TV+ seriesShrinkingwill return later this month, continuing the saga of grieving therapist Jimmy Laird, played by Jason Segel. This season will see Jimmy deal with the consequences of the unorthodox method he decided to pursue with his patients, deciding to tell them exactly what he thinks, to eventually disastrous results.Shrinking’s first season ended with a cliffhangerin which one of these patients, Grace, pushed her abusive husband Donny off a cliff, inspired by Jimmy’s counseling.
Segel is not only the star of the comedy-drama, he also serves as a co-creator, writer, and executive producer. The actor has taken on an increasing amount of behind-the-camera roles since his career first began decades ago onFreaks and Geeks, recently serving as a creative on projects likeDispatches from ElsewhereandWindfall. The first season ofShrinkingwas met with widespread positive reviews, with Segel and co-star Jessica Williams receiving two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series respectively.
Shrinking Season 2: Release Date, Cast, Story, Trailer & Everything We Know
The Jason Segel and Harrison Ford-starring Shrinking was another huge hit for AppleTV+, and here’s everything we know about Shrinking season 2.
Screen Rantinterviewed Jason Segel to discuss the evolution of Jimmy’s character, the addition of Brett Goldstein to the cast after his work behind the scenes last season, and what fans can expect fromShrinking’s second season.
Jason Segel Wanted The New Shrinking Season To Have Consequences
Where The New Season Picks Up & The Addition Of Brett Goldstein
Screen Rant: This explores the consequences of Jimmy’s unorthodox therapy. We ended last season with Donny getting pushed off of the cliff by Grace, which was quite the shock. How will the events of that shape season 2 going forward?
Jason Segel: We wanted to be honest that there areconsequences to trying this unorthodox therapy, and we didn’t want everything to just go well. Some things went well, other things went really horribly, like the Grace situation. We pick up right where we left off dealing with the consequences of the wreckage that was created by Tia’s death, and by Jimmy’s breakdown, and we’re sort of starting to now try to make sense of this life in shambles.
Brett Goldstein appears this season in front of the camera. I don’t want to talk about his character, I’m going to leave this spoiler-free, but what I do want to ask you is: was that the role that you always envisioned him to play?
Jason Segel: I don’t know that it was always what even Brett intended on playing when the role was being conceived, but once it was on paper and we knew what the arc of that character was going to be, I didn’t think there was another choice but for Brett to play that character. I think to some extent the character Brett plays is also a reflection of Jimmy. They’re reflecting off of each other, and it was important for me to have somebody who I care about and relate to and could empathize with to play that part.
Jason Segel On Jimmy’s Ever-Evolving Relationships In Shrinking Season 2
Developing New Dynamics With Harrison Ford, Jessica Williams & More
Can you talk about the dynamic this season between Jimmy and Paul, especially moving from more of a competitive relationship to more of a team-based relationship, especially dealing with Sean?
Jason Segel: Yeah, I think that they will always be a bit of an odd couple, Jimmy and Paul, which is what I love about them. Paul could probably stand to be a little more Jimmy, and Jimmy could probably stand to be a little more Paul, and that’s the beauty of an odd couple.
I love Jimmy and Gaby’s relationship, but it takes an unexpected turn this season. Can you talk about how Jimmy and Gaby kind of have to navigate the emotional intricacies of their relationship?
Jason Segel: Yeah. I think it’s the reality of a friends with benefits kind of situation, is it always starts out with the best of intentions, but someone ends up kind of quietly suffering, and that comes to a head.
Jimmy’s wedding speech was a pivotal moment for both Brian and Jimmy. How does Jimmy’s journey of repairing his friendship with Brian evolve throughout the season?
Jason Segel: Well, David Foster Wallace wrote this thing, that depression is such an overwhelming emotion that it makes it impossible to really empathize with other people’s lives, see outside of themselves. I think that Jimmy is finally out of that zone and into a place where he’s able to really see what his friends were dealing with and engage with them and focus more on their problems than just his own.
More About Shrinking Season 2
Shrinking follows a grieving therapist who starts to break the rules and tell his clients exactly what he thinks. Ignoring his training and ethics, he finds himself making huge, tumultuous changes to people’s lives…including his own.
Check out our otherShrinkingseason 2 interviews here:
Shrinkingseason 2 begins on Apple TV+ on October 16 with a two-episode premiere, followed by new episodes weekly.
