Shrinking’s Jason Segel Teases Co-Star Brett Goldstein’s ‘Unbelievable’ Performance in Season 2: ‘His Range Has Yet to Be Explored’
Brett Goldstein will be the first to admit: He had no intention of guest-starring on Shrinking this season. But after the formerly mysterious role of Louis was written (get all of the spoilery details here), star Jason Segel convinced him to reconsider.
“We had written this part, and I wasn’t going to play [it],” Goldstein told a packed crowd during Thursday’s panel at New York Comic Con. “I was probably gonna do like a silly cameo at some point just to say I’ve done it, but I really wasn’t meant to be in it.”
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When Segel took the mic to corroborate and elaborate, the actor gushed about Goldstein’s acting ability and versatility, which he says has “yet to be explored.”
“The part was perfect for Brett, and he was meant to play that part,” he said. “As you’ll see as the season unfolds, in a lot of ways, that character had to be a reflection of Jimmy. They are two guys looking at a mirror there, and I wanted someone formidable who I felt like a kinship with.”
Segel added that “Brett is the best actor… But also, the breadth of his range has yet to be explored. The thing that I was always taught really young was like, if you want to show what you can do, write your own material because no one is gonna be knocking on your door to do the s–t that you think you’re good at. He writes every day on the show. And my feeling was, ‘Dude, you will kill this part, and it is so different than anything you’ve done. Do it.’ And he was amazing. It’s unbelievable.”
Segel also raved about another of his co-stars, Lukita Maxwell, who plays his onscreen daughter, Alice.
“When Lukita auditioned for the show, Brett can verify, I got off the Zoom and I texted everybody, ‘That’s my daughter. We don’t need to see anybody else,'” he said. “And then they texted me back, ‘Jason, she’s the first person we saw.’ I said, ‘You’ll see!’ And everybody — I mean, everybody — agreed, like, ‘Oh, this is her.'”
Segel also revealed that sometimes in auditions, “I would say something different in the middle just to see how they [would] handle it. Lukita didn’t even blink. She just continued on with the scene with such realism and specificity. She came as Alice, and she’s been that way ever since… The show, in a lot of ways, I’ve realized, is about all of our relationships to Alice because we all have to raise her as a collective… [Lukita] has shown a million facets this season. Everybody shines in such new ways in Season 2.”
Maxwell shared her memories from her audition as well, recalling how “generous” and kind Segel has been toward her: “I just remember from the first Zoom call I had with [Jason], the energy was so there, and the chemistry was so there… He’s the kindest human being and it’s been the craziest, greatest pleasure to have him [as] a scene partner and share that generosity with me, not only in life, but in the work.”
Other highlights from the panel:
* New series regular Ted McGinley (Derek) and Bill Lawrence had been hoping to work together for years. “He’s taken me to the network many times, and I screwed it up every single time,” joked McGinley. “And so that first day [on set], I was a nervous wreck. I remember sitting at the table reading, and when I got the script, I said, ‘This is the best half-hour I’ve ever read in my life.’ Derek is a product of brilliant writing. This is the best job I’ve ever had.” (“Wait until you see what this guy does this season,” Segel teased.)
* Working with the legendary Harrison Ford is not lost on Goldstein, despite how cool the rest of the cast plays it. “Everyone else is much more relaxed about it,” he said. “I’m like three years into working with Harrison Ford, and there’s not a single moment that goes by that I don’t [go], ‘F–king hell, I’m working with Harrison Ford!’ I mean, just writing and going, ‘Harrison Ford’s going to say that!'”
* When asked about breaking on set, Christa Miller (Liz) confirmed that “Jason Segel does not break. We all try, and he does not. Then, our last season together, I had a secret weapon of Bill Lawrence sitting outside throwing jokes to me, and I finally made Jason break.”
* Who does break easily? Guest star Damon Wayans Jr. “He was really fast, like his brain is really fast,” said Jessica Williams (Gaby). “A lot of times, we were just trying to out-joke each other. But then also, he’s someone who will give you jokes, like, ‘Oh, dude, try it like this.’ And it was like, ‘Oh, bro, sweet!’ It was almost like Dude, Where’s My Car? ‘Dude! Bro! Sweet!’ That dude’s a maniac.”
* Who does everyone think is the best therapist on the show? Every cast member simultaneously chose Gaby without hesitation, eliciting big laughs from the crowd. “She’s got her shit together in that department,” said Williams. “The other two are just… one’s surly, and the other one’s kind of a mess. She’s just really good for them.”
* Shrinking was originally pitched as a three-season series. Even though Goldstein and Segel couldn’t say much about Season 3 (besides the fact that it’s officially happening, of course), they did confirm that they know how it all ends. But could the show run longer than that? Recalled Luke Tennie (Sean): “I do remember my second day of work, Jason said, ‘Let’s do three [seasons] and see how we feel.’ So I’m looking forward to and hoping for the ‘see how we feel’ part.”
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