Jason Segel breaks Brett Goldstein’s stereotype of Ted Lasso in “The Shrink.”

Jason Segel breaks Brett Goldstein's stereotype of Ted Lasso in "The Shrink."

Brett Goldstein, who co-wrote Shrinking alongside Jason Segel and Bill Lawrence, is heading to the screen this season thanks to Segel’s urging.

The second season of the Apple TV+ comedy — which follows grieving therapist Jimmy (Siegel) as he breaks the rules and tells his clients exactly what he thinks — sees Goldstein join the cast in a surprisingly dark role; Lawrence admitted that he initially dropped star Ted Lasso for the role, until Siegel changed his mind.

“I made a mistake that I think audiences sometimes make when you equate someone with the role they played. This has to be a sympathetic, endearing guy and in my mind I’m like, ‘No, Brett’s more like him,'” [Ted Lasso character] Roy Kent. And then I say: What am I talking about? “He’s so likable and he’s so beautiful as a person,” Lawrence told The Hollywood Reporter at the series’ premiere in Los Angeles on Tuesday. “Jason Segel really rallied and was like: ‘What are you doing, man? ‘We should just get Brett to play this part.’ I won’t spoil it but the show won’t work unless you end up rooting for this guy, which I think will kill him.

“I secretly knew he wanted to play that role and I knew he was going to kill it,” Siegel explained of going to bat for Goldstein, “I knew he was going to kill it. I have a lot of experience being Marshall Eriksen.” [in How I Met Your Mother] Then work to make people see me as other characters; I know he’s probably treating it like Roy Kent, so I just wanted to be the voice that says no, do something completely different, let’s break that down now. “And he’s amazing at the show.”

Another benefit of casting Goldstein was having him clean-shaven for the role, Lawrence joked: “There are quite a few things that were deal-breakers for me but I wanted him to shave his beard off, not really for the character as much as it was for the sake of How to do it.” I knew it would make him a little miserable.

Last season also saw the reveal that Harrison Ford’s character is battling Parkinson’s disease, something that will be explored further this year.

Siegel said they approached Ford’s story “the same way we approach all kinds of difficult topics on the show, just with humor,” as Lawrence explained the personal connection, as his grandfather and Goldstein’s father were both diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and the writer began his career at Spin City with Michael J. Fox.

“It’s really important for us to represent her in an authentic way and honor her, and I think Harrison was absolutely overwhelming,” Lawrence emphasized. “It really makes me proud to watch what he does.”

He also noted the “resistance” they faced during the first season, with “people saying, ‘A real wizard would never do what Jamie does, and there will be consequences.’ We’re like, ‘No, this is what the ending is going to be!'” Lawrence added, “The therapy community has been so kind and really embraced us because they know it’s a fairy tale and I think at its core I think every therapist character is trying to be of service and trying to help people. I think they’re excited about it.

Season 2 of Shrinking, which also stars Jessica Williams, Christa Miller, Luke Tenney and Luketa Maxwell, begins streaming October 16 on Apple TV+.

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