Shrinking: Bill Lawrence talks casting decisions and behind-the-scenes moments

Critically acclaimed comedy series Shrinking has been one of the most popular shows since its premiere in 2023. Created by Bill Lawrence, Brett Goldstein, and Jason Segel, who also stars in the show, it narrates the story of a grieving therapist, Jimmy, who tells his patients what they should do, breaking therapy laws.

In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, creator Bill Lawrence shared about what goes on behind the scenes and how he came to cast several of the characters in his show.

More on this in our story.

Shrinking: Bill Lawrence talks about casting decisions

During the interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lawrence shared how it was Jason Segel’s idea to have Goldstein play the character of the truck driver, due to whom Jimmy’s wife dies in Shrinking. He stated that he was apprehensive about giving the role to Goldstein, but after watching him perform, he was disappointed, as he was not the one who suggested giving Brett the role. He shared,

"I kept thinking, ‘He’s known as [Ted Lasso’s] Roy Kent, and he’s too gruff. I called Brett up and said, ‘If you think you can do this, you should, but if you screw it up, you’re going to ruin the show and it’s going to get canceled. In the end I thought he just killed it, and I was so proud of him, and now I’m annoyed that his casting wasn’t my idea."

He further talked about how the character of Louis became Brett’s own, and he didn’t have to go through a whole process to see if he fit the role, which he found a little annoying. He shared,

"No, because once it was Brett, then all the writing was for him. And at the end of the day, he’s going to do that role the way he wants too, since he’s a creator too. I don’t like it when people have a bigger vote than me because I’m a control freak, so that drove me a little insane."

However, he went through a different process when writing for Harrison Ford, who plays the character of Dr. Paul Rhoades in Shrinking. This was the first time Lawrence was working with the veteran actor, and he shared about how they initially wrote Ford as a serious man, but after learning about him being okay with anything they wrote, they added more layers to his character. He stated,

"We didn’t know Harrison personally, so we originally wrote him as a very serious guy. As he grew to trust us, we realized he was game for anything, and that freed us up to write stuff for him that we normally wouldn’t. I also noticed how vulnerable and emotional he was, that he made stuff sad even when we didn’t put that in the script."

He continued,

"Like the Thanksgiving dinner speech in the season-two finale; he could have delivered that matter-of-fact, and it would have worked. We shot everyone’s reactions to him simultaneously, and a lot of those emotional reactions were real. It was a super poignant moment — and I’m a hard, cynical dude, so I got surprised by it."

Shrinking: Bill Lawrence talks about directing the Season 2 finale

In the same interview, Lawrence was asked whether it was difficult to shoot the Harrison Ford speech scene, in the Season 2 finale of Shrinking, where the whole cast was present in one room. He shared:

"It can be self-indulgent to direct your own show, but one of the reasons I directed that one is I knew I was the only one who was allowed to ask certain things of the cast for that."

He continued,

"It was a giant room of thespians, but the whole scene was in service to Harrison’s speech. And it’s a nightmare for a crew to be like, “We’re going to shoot eight pages at one location and there are 17 actors.” But it was worth it."

While Brett Goldstein fit the role and even impressed Lawrence with his performance, he shared that there’s a long process of them selecting an actor for their show and how he still struggles with his casting decisions.

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Shrinking is available to stream on Apple TV+.

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