Note: The following story contains spoilers from “Shrinking” Season 2, Episode 7.
“Shrinking” star Christa Miller opened up about her character Liz’s slip-up kiss with old flame Mac (Josh Hopkins) and the irony that came with reuniting with her former “Cougar Town” co-star.
“People do imperfect things that [make you] go, ‘Oh my God, you can see it so clearly. Don’t do that. That’s a car wreck waiting to happen,’” Miller told TheWrap. “You can’t control other people and you don’t know what happens on an impulse. You hope that people have forgiveness in their hearts, and you can’t get to a deeper place in hope that things aren’t unforgivable.”
Viewers have been seeing the buildup to that Liz and Mac smooch since he stepped onto the scene in Episode 5, titled “Honesty Era.” Mac is one of Liz’s past cutty buddies who’s shown interest in Liz’s passions, including her animal photography — an effort Liz’s husband Derek (Ted McGinley) has been inadvertently dismissing.
What started off as a coincidental encounter turned into a casual outing during the day and then to Liz checking out Mac’s microbrewery by Episode 7, titled “Get in the Sea.” There, she was warmly surprised by his wall decor: her dog photography. After Mac shared that he’d do anything for his “Lizzy,” the two embrace for a kiss. But Liz quickly comes to her senses and leaves. To make matters entirely worse, Liz knows Derek can’t stand Mac.
While Miller said she’s all about removing toxicity from one’s life, she feels Liz and Derek’s marriage can overcome the hurdle.
“I think that’s what the show is about. I’m all for getting toxic people out of your life, but I think that relationship with Liz and Derek is really strong,” Miller said. “When I read it, that’s what I thought. I hadn’t read the script — I knew about it, but I hadn’t read this script until we all got the script a week before [filming], and I was shocked.”
Miller said she only knew “a little beforehand” about the scene and was delighted that Hopkins was guest starring on the show.
“It was just a perfect person that I had that energy with as a joke,” Miller shared. “I thought he’d be great for the role. I didn’t cast [him]. His name came up and I said, ‘We love Josh.’ Then we get to spend some time with Josh … We were excited to be able to spend some time with talented Josh Hopkins.”
She continued: “It’s funny because on ‘Cougar Town,’ we were all very close. But Jules (Courtney Cox) had a relationship with Grayson (Josh Hopkins), and then my character, Ellie, on that show was always torturing her and flirting with Grayson to drive her crazy.”
In addition to playing Liz, Miller also serves as co-music supervisor for “Shrinking” alongside Tony Von Pervieux, who also curated the music for “Bad Monkey.” Miller said the music she brings onto the show comes to her from her own playlists, her children’s tunes but mostly new music she discovers herself.
“Music’s given me so much my life, and I feel like TV now is where artists that are so talented can be launched on television,” Miller explained. “I like to use new music that I just hear. Like, right now I’m banking for the third season [of ‘Shrinking’]. Sometimes with Harrison [Ford] I’ll use older music that’s appropriate? And sometimes we use a song that’ll be just perfect, and I’ll throw it in, but I really don’t like to waste any great moments on music that’s not new.”
Miller grew up a lover of music and eventually leaned into working as a DJ in New York while pursuing her dreams as an actress. When she landed her role as Jordan Sullivan on her writer-producer husband Bill Lawrence’s hit series “Scrubs” she asked if she could lend a hand with its jams.
“They couldn’t get the music right on the pilot,” Miller said. “So in ‘Scrubs’ I said, “Bill, let me try to put the songs in,’ because they couldn’t get it. And so, I did. Then Bill said, ‘Well, now you’re doing the music for ‘Scrubs.’ And so, I did. The I started working with Tony … We decided to become a team and do this together.”
In roughly two weeks, Miller and Lawrence will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. The actress said she admires watching Lawrence build his TV empire.
“Working with Bill, you know, I’m kind of in awe a lot of the time of what he does … He’s such a lovely person and so funny, and whispers funny things and knows what he wants,” Miller shared. “He directed the finale [of ‘Shrinking’] this season, Episode 12. Being directed by him is really fun. Even though I loved all the directors, but Bill is really inspiring.”
Shrinking releases new episodes Wednesdays on Apple TV+
