Jason Segel on the ‘Shrinking’ season 2 finale, when Cobie Smulders returns

SPOILER ALERT: The following interview contains spoilers from “The Last Thanksgiving,” the second season finale of “Shrinking,” now streaming on AppleTV+.

The second season of the AppleTV+ comedy “Shrinking” fittingly concluded on Christmas Eve with a Christmas (Thanksgiving) episode in which this group of funny, complicated therapists and their loved ones shared what they are grateful for in their respective lives.

But given that forgiveness has been a dominant theme this season, one big arc ended up in a positive place: Jimmy (Jason Segel) was finally able to let go of the shame he felt about not being a good father to daughter Alice (Lukita). . Maxwell) when his wife/her mother died unexpectedly in a car accident. Furthermore, Jimmy was then able to forgive and come to the aid of the distraught Louis (Brett Goldstein), the man responsible for that death.

Segel has spoken Variety about his recent Golden Globe nomination for ‘Shrinking’, and about reuniting with ‘How I Met Your Mother’ co-star Cobie Smulders (and whether we could see her again in season 3). He also talked about what it was like to cry for Harrison Ford (who plays Dr. Paul Rhoades) and what he can say about the show’s third season.

This is your second time with a Golden Globe nomination, so does it have a different atmosphere this time or is there a surreal atmosphere?

I don’t even know if it’s surreal. You spend a lot of time hoping you’re doing well, and you spend so much time feeling like an imposter. I’ve been doing this for a long time. 25 years. Isn’t that crazy? It’s been 25 years since “Freaks and Geeks.” I feel really lucky to still be here. I feel really lucky that I get to make good work that people look at.

Before we get to the “Shrinking” finale, Episode 8 had a heavy flashback and gave the audience a lot of insight into Jimmy’s past shortly after Tia’s (Lilan Bowden) death. Did it tell you a lot about Jimmy, or did you already have these things in mind?

I knew all this. This is the moment where you saw Jimmy at his worst and the hardest part about that, to be completely honest, was that season 1 was so much about pulling Jimmy out of his grief and back to square one. This season was about progress. So you’re in a different headspace energetically and you wear it a little differently. It’s another part of the journey to go back and show him so much pain again.

I’m not much of a hippie-dippy actor, but there was a sense of ‘oh God, yeah, it was really bad.’ Going back to the place where Jimmy really failed further exacerbated the guilt and shame I carry as Jimmy in these scenes with Alice. My job is to hold that, maintain it, and let it slowly melt away. To be stabbed in the heart again, like, “God, you were terrible.” It was difficult to film.

I guess it wasn’t difficult to film, but that was the reunion with Cobie. There was such a nice spark between the characters and given the buzz on the internet as soon as the episode aired, it seems like we need her back. First off, what was it like shooting with her again?

Shooting again with Cobie was a dream. We did “How I Met Your Mother” for nine years and that was never part of the Marshall/Robin dynamic, so it was this gap in our acting experience together. I think the reason people respond to it, the reason it feels like ‘oh, I’d love to see them together again’, is because this is a scene where two people meet for the first time, but it’s meant to be that you have a different feeling of, ‘wow, what’s going on there?’

I think what’s going on there, what’s so cool and how acting works is that we knew each other for ten years in our most formative years, through thick and thin and becoming who you are. And then to stand in front of each other as grown adults and say, ‘look at us here, still standing.’ These are two characters who have been through tough times and Cobie and I have each been through tough things separately.

Any answer to whether we can see her character again?

I’m trying not to give any spoilers. But I think it’s all a reflection of whether Jimmy can get his act together.

We move to the finale, where Paul tells Jimmy to face his shame and fear with Alice. Is he telling him things Jimmy already knows or is it new information?

I think we all have blind spots for ourselves. That is also my experience in life. You can see so clearly what your friend needs to do, but you fall into the same pattern that you fall into again and again. Yes, Jimmy probably knows who the boogeyman under the bed is, but it’s much easier to name enemies. So I think it’s constantly saying, ‘that’s what it has to be, that’s what it has to be.’ Paul, who is a great therapist and also a great friend, basically just tells him, “You’re going to play a game until you look under the bed.”

When Jimmy finally talks to Alice, it’s a big moment we’ve all been waiting for. Were You waiting for that scene and were you completely scared to do it?

Yes, the answer is: as an actor, but also as a writer and storyteller, I knew I had to capture one scene. Any other scene could be good, but this one: how honest are you willing to be for this? To what extent do you believe and mean it and to what extent are you willing to show it? To what extent are you willing to not show off? To what extent are you willing to not try to impress the viewer? This has to be the most honest moment of the two seasons.

And so, yes, I felt enormous pressure. And the take that we used, 85% is the first take. We then came over and took a few close-ups, but that was mostly it. When you have something like this, I often find that the first take is the right one and everything after that is another skill of repeatability. You’re trying to do what the first take sounded like, right?

How many takes did you do with that particular scene?

We made three takes in total. And after the first take I said, ‘that’s the take.’ Then the deal that Bill [Lawrence] and I made, I said, ‘I know you can blow up the first shot and get pretty close to a close-up.’ I said, “Use as much of that as you can and then you can look at this close-up.” My fascination with film acting is catching something. I think that’s the magic of it. It’s a whole different skill, the repeatability. That’s the craft of it. Maybe you have to do the same thing for two hours, but for me the magical part is that you catch something.

I’ve watched that scene a few times and love Alice’s reaction, because she knows what her father needs, and for the most part she just listens.

She is just a little ahead of Jimmy and that is a nice quality. That is a quality that Lukita has. I don’t know how old Lukita is, but she is young and a very wise young woman.

We could talk about an eternal collaboration with Harrison Ford, but in the Thanksgiving scene, Paul stands up and remembers that he hasn’t told the group what he’s grateful for. What was it like for you to sit there and watch him do that scene?

It was just me and Jessica Williams (Gaby) crying out of proportion to the occasion and trying not to ruin the shoot. We also kept thinking about the fact that there were so many people in that room. Like the people who play Christa (Liz) and Ted (Derek)’s children, who are young. I remember talking to Michael Urie (Brian) about it and being like, ‘I hope these kids understand what they just had to witness, because it was a masterclass.’

And speaking of repeatability. Harrison probably gave that speech four or five times to the same effect. You’re listening to some of these words that he says, while Paul and I don’t know how much longer I’m going to do this, but I look around the room and I think, ‘lucky guy, lucky guy.’ And you know it blurs the lines between Paul and Harrison. We have no choice but to feel lucky, awestruck and privileged to be here with Harrison at this point in his life and career. I’ll have to have that for the rest of my life, you know?

Going back to the end of the previous episode, Jimmy cracks and calls Paul and you sit on a bench with him and you cry. How do you cry next to Harrison Ford?

When you play basketball with Michael Jordan, you think, “I want Michael Jordan to think I’m good at basketball.” When you have a scene with Harrison Ford on a couch where you’re supposed to collapse, you think, “I really want to be good for Harrison Ford.” For example, on the car ride home, I want Harrison Ford to think, “Boy, Jason is a good actor.” Jimmy wants Paul’s approval, so of course I want that same approval.

In the finale, we have to worry about Louis (Brett Goldstein) stepping in front of this train because he’s hit rock bottom. Of course he doesn’t, as Jimmy shows up. But was that even a topic of conversation about what would happen at that point?

Yes. It’s funny how writing works. Bill [Lawrence] is this way, that’s why it’s so great. And strangely enough, it’s also how I think, how many writers think. We knew that scene when we wrote season 2. And the same goes for season 1. We also knew how season 1 ended. We have a pretty strong idea of ​​how season 3 ends. I think what’s difficult about writing is, but it’s also very interesting. It’s like New York and London and then you have to cross the Atlantic Ocean. That’s what writing is to me. You have your premise, that’s your starting point, and then you usually know where it’s going to end. But how do I fill these other nine episodes?

What can you say about season 3?

I can say that our words for season 3 are ‘moving forward’. So that’s all we really know so far. Season 1 was grief, season 2 was forgiveness, and season 3 is moving forward.

Season 2 was such an emotional rollercoaster for Jimmy, so you experience a lot. Does that make you more excited to spring for more?

Yes, I really like acting. I love it very much. I really love my job. By the time I’m done with something, I get tired because I’m really going all in. But I don’t understand why you would do it differently. I’m excited about this little break because I literally finished a movie last week. That was a lot. But I’m going to earn it back during the holidays. I’m going to do some writing and then come to January and dive back into it.