Shrinking’s Brett Goldstein, Lukita Maxwell Break Down Episode 6’s Tense and Cathartic Confrontation — Watch
The following contains spoilers for Episode 6 of Shrinking Season 2.
In Wednesday’s episode of Shrinking, Louis was finally able to extend an apology for his role in Tia’s death, and he was gobsmacked by what he was given in return: forgiveness.
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Thanks to a lost wallet and some well-intentioned meddling from Brian, Alice once again came face to face with Brett Goldstein’s Louis, the drunk driver responsible for her mother’s death. In the equally awkward and emotional scene, Alice communicated some of her intense feelings that she wrote in her undelivered letter to Louis, including a bit where she called him a “selfish f–king drunk.” But when he asked her to tell him something about Tia, the young woman’s edge softened, as she and Brian recalled happy memories of her mom. That’s when Louis was able to express his sorrow.
“All I can tell you is that not a single moment goes by that I don’t think about her,” he admitted, voice quaking. “Or you. Or your dad. I think about you all… all the time. I’m just so f–king sorry.”
“It’s quite a challenging part to play, so I was nervous,” Goldstein tells TVLine in the video above, “Also, stepping into this incredible cast in this show, I didn’t want to ruin the show. It all felt quite high-risk. But, you know, why not? My sort of ethos is we’ll be dead soon, so give it a go. F–k it.”
According to his scene partner Lukita Maxwell, Alice and Louis’ tense conversation not only catches the audience off-guard, but Alice as well.
“She’s not entering that conversation anticipating forgiveness or anticipating anything,” she says. “I think that she subconsciously is chasing some kind of closure but [is] unsure of what form that will come in. In the beginning of the scene, we see her have this moment where she unleashes her emotion onto him and we see him absorb it. For her to forgive Louis, it’s unexpected for us, but it’s unexpected for Alice as well, and that is the moment where we collectively feel more of that catharsis.”
Louis, on the other hand, is an “open wound,” says Goldstein. While he at last had the interaction with Alice he’d been hoping for, there’s still the question of whether he’ll ever have the same opportunity with Jimmy.
“[Louis is] absolutely devastated and I think almost barely functioning,” adds Goldstein. “There’s this part of him that is subconsciously grasping for something, for acceptance, for a way out of feeling this way. And there may be none. There may be no way out of it.”
“I was very excited that I had the opportunity to work with and act with somebody who wrote the scene,” adds Maxwell, referring to Goldstein. “We communicated that we felt safe with each other and trusted each other. ‘I’m ready to do this. Let’s dive into it. Let’s do good acting.’ Jason [Segel] always says that. He’s like, ‘Good acting in 3-2-1… acting!’ [Laughs] I just feel really grateful that I had the safe space of acting across from Brett.”
See what else Goldstein had to say by watching the video embedded above. Then, let us know what you thought about the episode by hitting the comments.
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