
As we prepare for the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards, Backstage is breaking down this year’s film and television ensemble nominees for your consideration.
Main cast: Jason Segel, Harrison Ford, Jessica Williams, Lukita Maxwell, Luke Tennie, Christa Miller
Casting by: Brett Benner and Debby Romano
Created by: Bill Lawrence, Jason Segel, and Brett Goldstein
Distributed by: Apple TV+
Season 2 of this Apple TV+ dramedy continues its compassionate, slyly humorous exploration of Jimmy Laird (co-creator Jason Segel), a therapist who embarks on a radically different approach to his job. The series’ diverse cast, who play their distinct personalities off one another, defines the show’s appeal and storytelling, earning numerous Emmy, Golden Globe, and SAG nominations.
No one captures a good-hearted, emotionally fragile character like Segel, who anchors the ensemble with raw vulnerability as Jimmy continues to grieve over his wife’s death. Balancing that pathos with a healthy dose of sharp comedic timing makes him a lovable protagonist, even when his behavior is occasionally reckless. Segel shoulders Jimmy’s progression, making the journey feel earned. His optimistic focus on the positive even when meeting with an incarcerated client early on encapsulates the actor’s earnest approach to downbeat material.
Providing a perfect foil is Harrison Ford as his gruff colleague Paul Rhoades, more pragmatic but aloof, who must contend with worsening Parkinson’s disease while reconnecting with his ex-wife. Ford is a natural as the cynical shrink, utilizing his stoic, blunt persona to bring realism to the role. As the episodes progress, he subtly reveals a softer side to Paul, as he lets his guard down in the face of his own mortality.
Jessica Williams completes the main trio as a middle ground between Segel’s underdog and Ford’s grump, turning Gaby Evans into a three-dimensional personality capable of pivoting realistically from quick-tempered snips to measured confrontation. Gaby is more in-touch with her own feelings, and Williams captures her difficulty in navigating life even from a healthy place, enriching the show’s positive yet realistic depiction of mental health struggles.
Jason Segal and Jessica Williams on “Shrinking” Credit: Beth Dubber
Lukita Maxwell defines her role as Jimmy’s daughter, Alice, beyond her relationship with her father, often acting as a voice of reason to the supposed adults in the room. Still, she communicates an undercurrent of frustration over Jimmy’s instability, usually in a single look. Her chemistry with Gavin Lewis’ Connor, with whom she shares a fraught romantic history, is as awkwardly, charmingly believable as ever.
As Sean, a patient of Jimmy’s who moves in with him, Luke Tennie manages to convincingly portray anger management issues and PTSD through a soft-spoken, gentle delivery. He brings dramatic weight to his character’s relapses and struggles without ever going big with his performance. It’s a nice contrast to the other players and reinforces how emotional issues can be expressed in a variety of ways. Christa Miller and Ted McGinley return as neighbors Liz and Derek, perhaps the most well-adjusted of the cast, who help take care of Alice and provide their own advice, not to mention another twist of infectious comic relief. Michael Urie, as Jimmy’s best friend Brian, also acts as a voice of reason with quick delivery and an upbeat energy, having developed the character since Season 1. Brian’s anxiety over impending fatherhood is another undercurrent of tension that Urie makes palpable, balancing comedy and drama in keeping with the show’s tone.
Other new arrivals include Brett Goldstein, whose character exudes guilt and shame over his role in Jimmy’s past, and Cobie Smulders, bringing her own unique charm as a sarcastic divorcée.
A show with such an explicit focus on mental health must balance its parts carefully, creating a spectrum of engaging characters who all embrace, or reject, various means of self-betterment. In a show where the stakes are the ensembles’ emotional well-being, it takes an expert cast with the bravery to be honest, all while providing dry laughs in the process.
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