Christa Miller and Bill Lawrence celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary this year, but not even a quarter-century of marriage affords Miller with spoilers about Shrinking.
“I’m not really privy to anything other than the basics,” Miller tells Gold Derby. So while the actress knew the broad strokes of what Lawrence and Shrinking co-creators Jason Segel and Brett Goldstein had in mind for her character, Liz, for Season 2, she was left stunned by the details. Mainly, a drifting Liz – left with an empty nest after having raised three sons – would reconnect with an old boyfriend and share a clandestine kiss.
“I was like, ‘Hey, that sounds fun, but also scary,’” Miller says, adding she felt it would be a situation where the fans of the show would give her some “sh–” for straying, even briefly, from her supportive husband Derek, played by Ted McGinley.
“Ted McGinley won’t even speak about it still,” she jokes. “He doesn’t want to talk about it.”
But Miller credits the writers for seeing something from her performance in Season 1 of the Apple TV+ comedy. “They wanted to lean on me being vulnerable and getting more and more of that from my character,” she says. “I really felt Liz’s situation is an experience that I think everyone, a lot of moms who are empty nesters feel – trying to find a purpose and a passion. That’s something we always, as actors, have to find during downtime, regardless of whether you’re working or not. So I could really lean into it, but it was different. Sometimes I would come home and I couldn’t even speak – in a good way. But it was a lot. They gave me a gift.”
Shrinking initially focused on Jimmy (Segel), a therapist grieving the unexpected death of his wife, who was killed by a drunk driver before the events of the show’s first season. But as with several of Lawrence’s best shows (including Scrubs and Cougar Town), Shrinking has shifted comfortably into an ensemble piece, with Jimmy and his orbit of friends and family together getting over their shared grief after the accident. Miller plays Liz, Jimmy’s nosy neighbor who eventually becomes a surrogate mother for Jimmy’s daughter, Alice (Lukita Maxwell), and forms a close bond with Jimmy’s patient Sean (Luke Tennie).
Liz’s no-nonsense demeanor was a comedy highlight in Season 1, as was her relationship with Derek. But the frays were there – particularly as Liz struggled to find a passion to fill her time. And while Liz and Derek’s relationship ultimately survived her kiss (with Miller’s former Cougar Town co-star Josh Hopkins playing the guy who distracts Liz from her husband), a loving resolution was hard-won. In the seventh episode, Liz tells Derek about the kiss – and Derek asks her how long the liplock lasted, urging her to use “Cincinnati” (as opposed to “Mississippi,” like in “One-Mississippi”). When she doesn’t stop him as Derek hits “Two Cincinnati,” he loses it.
“I remember when I was doing the kiss, one of the crew guys said to me, not joking, he goes, ‘That was not Two Cincinnati,’” Miller says. When she and McGinley later shot their fateful confrontation, she says the set was totally quiet. “Everyone felt bad for Ted, and Ted just brought it,” she says. “He’s been so fantastic this year. It was a very lovely moment for us to have.”
The Shrinking ensemble has flourished in Season 2 beyond even Miller and McGinkey. Co-stars Michael Urie and Maxwell have gotten more to do, and Goldstein even appeared in a key guest-starring role as the man responsible for the death of Jimmy’s wife. (As with everything on the show, even that character, Louis, was not demonized and instead turned into a figure of tragedy and empathy.)
“When you’re doing a show, you’ll usually have your sides. And sometimes people will have their sides hidden everywhere during camera rehearsal, so they’ll have it if needed,” Miller says when asked about the depth of the cast. “But on this show, there are no scripts on our set. No one has sides. Everyone comes in knowing all their stuff forward and backward. So when we get on set, we can do it. You’re not trying to remember lines. Michael said that was when he realized he had to bring his A-game. And I realized that too after the table read before we even shot the pilot. Like, ‘Oh my God. It’s time to bring it.’”
But despite the talent of the cast – which also includes Harrison Ford in a major role – Miller says the Shrinking success starts with the show’s scripts.
“I’ve never had this sort of stuff before,” says Miller, who also serves as the show music supervisor (and discusses that aspect of her work in the interview above). “When you have this material, it really feels special. And also, the cast has authentically developed relationships. So you’re seeing that development from the first season when we didn’t know each other well, and a lot of characters didn’t know each other that well. Now you see come around.”
Episodes of Shrinking stream weekly on Apple TV+. The Season 2 finale debuts on Christmas Day.
