“Shrinking” star Brett Goldstein said his fellow co-creator and co-star Jason Segel helped him out in a surprising way during their confrontational scene in Episode 8.
“He’s an amazing actor, and he’s also one of the most selfless scene partners I’ve ever known in that he would do stuff when it wasn’t his coverage, when the camera wasn’t on him, he would do stuff to help you,” Goldstein, whom Segel pushed to have play Louis (the drunk driver involved in Jimmy’s wife’s fatal car crash), told TheWrap.
“There’s a scene later in the show, he said things to me off camera that aren’t in the show, but that affected me in a way that was very useful for this. Like he would do things to help. He’s an ego-less, brilliant actor,” he added.
Though Goldstein wouldn’t give too many details about the moment, which goes down in Episode 8, titled “Last Drink,” he said Segel’s words triggered him more than what he read in the script.
“What he told me on the day in one take was more than what was scripted, but was very effective at getting a reaction from me that was very genuine and kind of beautiful for the scene,” Goldstein explained. “It was like, you know, later in the day, when you’re kind of used to the lines. He surprised me in a very generous way.”
While Segel was passionate about having Goldstein as part of the series, the “Ted Lasso” star said he initially was only going to make a brief appearance.
“I sort of joked about me doing the cameo, like walking past Harrison Ford just so I could say I did it,” Goldstein shared. “I was happy writing for such a good cast, and we’d made this world and there didn’t seem a need for me to be in it. I would never be in something unless it made sense. So I wasn’t going to just jam myself into it just because I wanted to be in it.”
In a previous interview with TheWrap, Segel further detailed how the role for Louis was originally written to be a younger character.
“He was written a little younger before, and it was just a little bit different than Brett. Brett and I are about the same age where we have a similar sensibility, and it just felt really exciting to play these scenes with him,” shared Segel, who pitched and vouched for Goldstein to be on-camera.
“I think we always knew Brett would do something in the show. To be honest, the plan was for a lighter, kind of maybe comedic arc of a few episodes, and when that part came along, he was written a little bit differently than Brett,” he added. “I want to be clear, I don’t take credit for Brett playing that part. I just said out loud what I think everybody in the room knew in their gut, was that Brett should play that part.”
Season 2 of “Shrinking” is streaming on Apple TV+. New episodes air every Wednesday through Dec. 25.
