This story about the casting of “Shrinking” first appeared on the comedy series theme from TheWrap Awards Magazine.
Say you’re hosting a thoughtful comedy about the world of psychotherapists, and you need a seasoned veteran to back up the smart young cast in a scene-stealing mentor role. And then you get one of the biggest movie stars in the world, an icon who has been in two of the biggest movie franchises in the last 50 years.
This was the reality for “Shrinking” casting directors Debby Romano and Brett Benner when the AppleTV+ comedy was being put together. It still seems surreal to them that they cast Harrison Ford in the pivotal supporting role of Paul, a senior member of the practice where Jason Segel’s and Jessica Williams’ characters work as therapists.
“We’d love to take the credit,” Romano said, noting that the character was once known as Phil, a nod to Jonah Hill’s famed therapist Phil Stutz, who ended up getting his own Netflix documentary. “But all we did was put his name on a list, which is a great thing in itself: to be able to put that name on a list and not have the room laughed at.”
Romano credits “Shrinking” co-creator Bill Lawrence with being the main reason Ford signed, with Lawrence and Ford living down the street in Southern California. And the latest stroke of luck came when the actor was working on “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” at Pinewood Studios outside London, where he was able to meet with “Shrinking” co-creator and “Ted Lasso” star, Brett Goldstein. . Their relationship turned out to be a done deal.
“We were going like the whole Harrison thing was going on. Jessica, I think at that point, she had established herself,” Benner said. “And we knew that Christa Miller was going to be the neighbor. With any casting situation, you can only hope that what you’re putting together works and I think it really comes down to luck. And we were lucky.”
“Shrinking” is the truest version of an ensemble series: every cast member has scenes with every other cast member at some point. During the casting process, which took place mostly over Zoom, Romano and Benner were hoping they would get what they hoped for when the actors who only knew each other virtually were finally in the same room together.
“We had a bunch of people reading with Jason, but again, on a Zoom,” Benner said. “So you can bring out the chemistry that there could be, but it’s totally different when you’re in person. I remember when we saw Michael Urie (who plays Segel’s best friend). It was one of those moments where the role would come to life and then watching it come to life was so perfect. He completely exceeded our expectations.”
Romano and Benner have high praise for their young upstarts, including Lukita Maxwell as Segel’s teenage daughter and Luke Tennie as a patient dealing with anger management. Both were excited to finally be able to cast “Married…with Children” veteran Ted McGinley, also a stealthy scene-stealer as the husband of Miller’s character.
“I hope we get to see more of Ted, he’s so good,” Romano said. “Bill and I have a long history with Ted. He came this close to being Dr. Cox in “Scrubs” (played by John C. McGinley, no relation). “We’re always excited to bring him in for whatever we’re working on.”
Benner loves the impromptu nature of Shrinking, which produces comedic gems at times. “It feels a bit messy and real, like having a conversation where you jump in or start laughing or whatever,” he said. “There seems to be a lot of spontaneity in this group.” “I really want to see a blooper reel,” Romano said. “We must have so many good things.”
Read more of the comedy series edition here.
