Adored for its feel-good, heart-warming tone while addressing oftentimes heart-wrenching themes of grief, familial conflict, and mortality, Apple TV’s Shrinking, starring Jason Segel, Harrison Ford and Jessica Williams, among its stacked roster of talent, returns with Season 3. Built on the premise of a grieving therapist who radically shifts the trajectory of his patients’ lives by telling them exactly what to do — breaking all forms of conduct and ethics in the process — while navigating single parenthood, friendship and romance after losing his wife. As season one explored the messy, turbulent facets of grief, season two peels back the layers of forgiveness. Mirroring the stages of grief, the arrival of Season 3 nudges the community of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Center in quaint Pasadena to move forward. To expound on the theme of forging ahead this season, Men’s Folio schedules a session with Segel, who plays therapist Jimmy Laird and Michael Urie, who plays his best friend, Brian.

As the show has always struck a fine line between showcasing humour and raw vulnerability, Segel, who also executive produces the show alongside Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein, says Season 3 is when the cast has hit its stride. “Now that we’ve learned what our cast members do best, we try to write with these considerations, while getting them to stretch their muscles and do things they haven’t tried yet,” Segel says. To bring the mix of drama and comedy to a level they feel is right, a group of ten-ish writers work together to figure out storylines that interweave seamlessly, while standing strong on their own. From delving deeper into Paul’s battle with Parkinson’s and Alice’s conundrum to move across the country to attend university, to Brian’s adoption-related dilemmas, Segel sees the writing process as similar to “designing a solar system.”

Given the recent discourse surrounding the phenomenon of shows being dumbed down to cater to shortened attention spans and optimised for mobile viewing, I asked Segel whether if the writers had to account for this . “Although this is better answered by those who are deep in the writers’ room, I would say that if the writers are anything like me, I try to be as strategic as possible. I let the idea be in charge and believe that I know better than an algorithm — that’s the kind of faith you take as an artist, in knowing that what you’re trying to express is something people are going to want to watch. You then find out if you’re right, or wrong,” he explains candidly.

Urie, who plays the exuberant lawyer and a father-to-be in Season 3 encountered recalled the nervousness he felt during the inception of Shrinking, as he was casted to play Jimmy’s best friend without actually knowing Segel. “I made an audition tape, sent it off and thought that we would have a chemistry read — but they just told me ‘you got the job.’” Turns out, playing Segel’s confidante was the easiest part of the job, because “Jason Segel is the menschiest mensch of all mensches,” as Urie puts it. Praising Segel for his soulful character that not only extends to his fellow cast members but to fellow production members, too. Without spoilers, fans will get to witness this dynamic in full force early this season, that too, pays homage to Urie’s Broadway career.

Although Segel and Urie’s relationship only begun from Shrinking, fellow co-star Harrison Ford who plays Paul, has crossed paths with Urie in an unlikely encounter back in 2010. While starring in The Temperamentals, a play about the Mattachine Society, Urie appeared on a Pride Parade float in New York City and had spotted Ford from afar, gesturing towards him in confusion — “‘Guys, doesn’t that look like Harrison Ford?’ I pointed and everyone looked at him.” Years later, Urie had found out from Nick Jonas’ bodyguard who once worked for Ford that his action had caused a commotion. “Oh my god, turns out it was really him. So cut to, I’m working with Harrison Ford and I say ‘Harrison, I don’t know if you remember this’, and proceeded to tell him the whole story. He laughs, and asks ‘What movie was I there shooting?’”

Acknowledging that the greatest part of Shrinking is its ability to illustrate grief through comedy, Urie finds it truly cathartic to laugh in moments of despaire, especially with loved ones. “Gallows humour — the idea that things that are hard and sad can be funny, is wildly helpful. As my partner and I lost our cat and dog this past year, I like to tell people that it was a murder suicide,” he laughs. “In a way, that makes feel better, and I’d like to think that they would like it, even if they weren’t necessarily creatures with a sense of humour, we still had fun laughing with and at them.” Shrinking empowers viewers with the permission to laugh in the face of tragedy, as a way to overcome grief.

Another anchor to the show is the concept of chosen family — each character finds solace in each other through different ways, no matter tied together through blood, workplace or neighbourhood. “When we first started, a lot of the characters didn’t know each other, or had been estranged from one another — just picking up the pieces after hitting rock bottom. Even us as actors didn’t know each other yet. So as you’re witnessing the characters grow closer, mend fences and fall in love, we as actors are also learning to collaborate and fall in love with each other,” Urie explains. Acknowledging that some viewers see Shrinking as a “hangout” show, he finds it endearing the characters enjoy being in each other’s company without wanting to force an entire relationship into a 30-minute coffee break. He, too has tried to incorporate the art of hanging out into his life.

As the show demonstrates the feeling of community in ways that are messy, nuanced and not just rooted in convenience, Segel sees Shrinking as a way to showcase that we are more alike than we are different. “We have different exterior armours that we call our personalities. But if you find yourself being honest with others, you’ll find out that we’re all dealing with the same subset of emotions and issues, while trying to make sense of them.”

Beyond just entertainment, Shrinking has left the castmates with lessons that shifted how they view their lives. “Jimmy deals with tremendous shame, and I see shame as the silent killer. It’s like having a twisted ankle — you can’t always see it, but you can feel it every time you try to put weight on it. I believe in doing everything that you need to get your side of the street clean as a way to move forward.” For Urie, he finds himself going against his character’s trajectory. “Brian is probably the most immature character on the show. He had a ‘everything goes my way’ mantra and knew the least about himself — having a baby is going to force him to stop being a baby,” he explains. “As Brian is sort of crumbling, and has to relearn his ways, I find myself going the other way, after overcoming my midlife crisis and getting into therapy.”

Shrinking is now streaming on Apple TV, with new episodes debuting every Wednesday.

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