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00:00Hello, we're the team from Shrinking, and this is Deadline Contenders Television, the nominees studio.
00:21Well, I think one of the things that Harrison has talked about, which has been the most meaningful,
00:25is when people come up to talk to you about this show, it's very often not to take a selfie
00:30or because someone wants something,
00:33but more it's because people want to tell you that the show has affected them in some way,
00:37and each of our characters is dealing with sort of a different subject in the sphere of their character.
00:43And to be part of a show that seems to be meaningful to people or might help people get through
00:49something they're going through
00:50is, I think, one of the reasons you make art, you know, not to be too deep about it.
00:57No, go deep. He's deep in it. He's deep in it.
00:59No, but I think it's true. Like, at some point you ask yourself, why am I doing any of this,
01:02or why am I choosing projects, or what, you know, you're trading your time and your life for this stuff,
01:07and it's been very meaningful to have it be this show.
01:10I think the relationship is complicated and deep.
01:18And I think there's the surface relationship, which is pretty clear,
01:26but then there's something else between these two guys.
01:32And I think it's each of them finding themselves through their relationship with each other.
01:41There's something that he touches in me that I have not found in my character's life.
01:48There's something in my character that's touching him that he has not found in his character's life.
01:55And there's something about the casting as well.
02:00This big guy and this old man are kind of an unusual combination.
02:10And I revel in it.
02:13The writing is so good.
02:15The people that I'm working with are so talented and free and happy to be doing what they're doing.
02:25This has just been a joy for me to be involved in this show.
02:30It's very interesting, I think, when, and this is another stroke of great writing,
02:35where you are given the reason that somebody is lacking or defective or yearning for something.
02:47And you see it really literally when Jeff Daniels arrives.
02:50And it makes Paul, it makes his obsession almost with Paul suddenly make sense.
02:55Like, this guy has never had somebody tell him that he did a good job.
02:59You know, he's never had someone put his arm around him and say, it's going to be okay, kid.
03:04You know, all of these things that we suddenly understand, like, oh, this is what it's all been about for
03:09Jimmy.
03:09And through Paul, just looking for somebody he admires and respects to tell him he's doing okay.
03:18So, yeah, I just think, I think our writing staff is really brilliant.
03:22We've been talking about it a lot today, but they make it very easy to do your job.
03:27If you just show up and, as Harrison and Jessica and Michael have said, like, just do the lines.
03:33It's going to work out great.
03:37I think we've all had that similar experience with Jason of, like, especially as team captain.
03:41You know, it's his show of just someone who will volley it back.
03:45Like, there's nothing really you can give him that he's not going to show up and be excited about and
03:51ready to do.
03:51I think we all want to do this show, you know, to the best of our ability and have it
03:57succeed.
03:58And a big part of that, which I feel really lucky to do this show, is when number one on
04:02the call sheet is down to clown.
04:05And so there's just, there's too many to even think of just because we're working on season four right now.
04:11And I'm having a hard time remembering the first three seasons because we're in it.
04:15But, like, really, there's such an easy, he has such an easy way about him that I feel like I've
04:22been lucky to experience as an actor.
04:24And I think we all have.
04:25It trickles, trickles from the top down.
04:28But they have a really fun and playful relationship.
04:31I feel the same way about you and about everyone.
04:33I have a favorite with Jess, if I can say it.
04:35There is a scene where, again, I don't know which season it is.
04:39They all kind of blend together.
04:41But where I show up to Gabby's house and we first have a conversation about exactly where we are in
04:50our relationship,
04:50that then turns into physical wrestling.
04:54And then it turns into a proper dramatic scene.
04:59And to me, it speaks to exactly why I love acting with Jess.
05:04Because in one scene, we did three different dances.
05:10And neither of us missed a step.
05:12It's like watching professional dancers, like clocking the other person and not missing a beat, not having to catch up.
05:21Yeah, it's just like it is very rare that you are acting with somebody who, you know, like the mirror
05:28exercise in acting class, like that silly mirror exercise.
05:31Yes, it's like that at the highest level.
05:36It's awesome to get to play a guy that's like evolving and sometimes being told which direction to go for
05:47a little bit of evolution and sometimes finding it himself.
05:54Playing a flawed character is so thrilling because we navigate our lives trying to be our best.
06:03And as actors, we're trying to be, you know, trying to lead with empathy and learn about the other people
06:08and not judge them.
06:09And I didn't even know that the character was a narcissist until a literal therapist told me so after like
06:16halfway through season two.
06:17And I was like, have I, have I been doing that?
06:21But, but now we get to see now because the show is so mature, we get to see him change.
06:29We don't just leave him there to like face adventures that way.
06:32And all the characters have their flaws and they are because they're in this beautiful chosen family of, yes, a
06:41bunch of therapists, but also a bunch of empathetic people that love each other.
06:45They have the support system and I, too, I live in New York and people come up to me all
06:51the time in New York wanting to talk about the show and about how much it's helped them, you know,
06:59whether, whether it's like straight guys that don't usually talk about their feelings or people who have Parkinson's that are
07:06moved to see their story being told or families that watch the show together.
07:13Because it's a show about a family, ultimately, a chosen family, but it's about a family.
07:18And those three different groups come, I see them all the time.
07:22I hear from them all the time.
07:23Just last night, an usher at a theater stopped me as he was sending me to my seat and said,
07:29I have Parkinson's and your show means the world to me.
07:32He said, now please take a seat.
07:33The show's beginning.
07:35And you can't bring that beer in.
07:38He said, this is the theater, sir.
07:40Have a seat.
07:41But it's, it's very gratifying to, to, to get to play these, these flawed individuals who are just trying to
07:49love each other.
07:50It's also really fun.
07:51Like we're shooting the show right now and I, it does feel like we just kind of get paid to
07:55do some really cool make them ups and have it recorded on TV for healthcare.
07:59It's really nice and we get healthcare, you know, it's cool.
08:05How lucky are we?
08:06I know, very.
08:08The person that I, that I work with frequently in the show, Michael J. Fox and I have had discussions
08:20about Parkinson's.
08:21I have had friends who have suffered from Parkinson's.
08:27I know other people.
08:28I feel a great sense of responsibility to, to get that part of my character's story straight.
08:37But I'm led by the writers.
08:40Every, every Parkinson's patient is different.
08:42And, um, there's amazing variety in, in symptomology and, and behaviors.
08:52And I don't know what's coming next.
08:56The writers have not shared the destiny of the character that I'm playing.
09:00So, it's very much, I have the feeling of a person that has something overhanging that they don't understand or
09:12know how it's going to come or what's going to come.
09:18But there's an overarching concern that, that controls their lives.
09:29And, and when you meet people that are, that meet you on that level, it's, it's, it's a very significant
09:36experience for an actor to be talking to somebody to whom your representation means so much.
09:49And, and, and, and to me, that comes, uh, to me as both an opportunity and a responsibility.
09:56We knew that we wanted to get out of the acute stage of grief as a show because it, it
10:02will run out of steam eventually, you know?
10:04Um, and so we had a lot of talks about what another, you know, cycle could look like, at least
10:11for Jimmy.
10:11And I'm sure you guys all did it for your characters.
10:13But, um, I was.
10:17Yeah, yeah, yeah.
10:19Um, what was interesting to me, um, is what does it look like when you then decide, okay, I'm ready
10:27to take it for a spin now.
10:29Like I've, I've reached the end of the acute stage.
10:32I'm gonna, I'm gonna walk out this front door and try to have a good day.
10:37Sounds great, but it turns out, you know, it's its own set of clumsiness and hilarity.
10:43And it almost feels like a bit of a rom-com to me, like to try again at 45 years
10:48old.
10:49I think there is a lot of fun in there.
10:54Yeah, no, absolutely.
10:55You're just never done.
10:56Yeah.
10:57You're never done.
10:58It can be a death of a spouse.
10:59It can be a divorce.
11:00It can be just a big life change.
11:02It can be a move across country.
11:03All of a sudden to be a grown-up with a past and some baggage and having to like start
11:08fresh, make new friends, try to date.
11:11Like it's, it's really fun.
11:13What do you mean make new friends?
11:14Sorry.
11:15Oh yeah.
11:15Wait, you read the next episode.
11:16Wait, you read the next episode.
11:18Wait!
11:21This is Tabby.
11:22This is my new friend, Tabby.
11:24You have a new black friend, Tabby?
11:27And she wears bright colors?
11:29If he had a new black friend on the show named Tabby, I would lose him.
11:33I should call my agent.
11:36Hello.
11:38That's him.
11:39What?
11:40Tabby.
11:41Tabby.
11:42Tabby.
11:42Tabby.
11:43Tabby.
11:48Tabby.
11:48Tabby.
11:49Tabby.
11:49Tabby.
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