When developing her on-screen friendship with co-star Christa Miller, Shrinking star Jessica Williams said she positioned it as if they were hanging out like a Real Housewife of Pasadena.
In other words, she approached the relationship between her character, Gaby, and and Millers character, Liz, through the lens of her fascination with reality TV and obsession with the Real Housewives franchise. In this episode of Varietys Awards Circuit Podcast, Williams and Miller share how that TV friendship has developed into a real-life, off-screen one as well.
In separate interviews, Williams and Miller discussed the dynamic of their characters evolving personalities and what they hope for the second season. Listen below!
Shrinking focuses on therapist Jimmy Laird (Jason Segel) and his daughter Alice (Lukita Maxwell), after the loss of their matriarch, Tia (Lilan Bowden). The half-hour comedy chronicles as the therapist develops a much more hands-on approach with his clientele and begins to process his grief with Alice.
As Jimmy and Alice grieve, the two are embraced by the familys close friends, Liz (Christa Miller) and Gaby (Jessica Williams). As Jimmy neglects his daughter during his mourning period, Liz becomes the proxy overbearing maternal figure to Alice, and guides her through her grief, all while bringing a new dimension to the nosy neighbor archetype. And then theres Harrison Ford, who plays Jimmys mentor, Paul, an aging therapist who isnt yet ready to come to terms with his Parkinsons diagnosis.
While Liz attends to Alices needs, she starts causing fierce face-offs with those that also support the Lairds including Tias best friend, Jimmys co-worker and Alices godmother, Gaby. Williams Gaby becomes the expressive and understanding friend to Alice, and at the same time develops a deeper connection with Jimmy. Battling her own grief, Gaby develops an unlikely friendship with Harrison Fords Paul, and eventually an unexpected friendship with Liz.
As a product of her personal relationship with series co-creator, and real-life husband, Bill Lawrence, Miller noted how her quirks have also filtered into the creation of Liz explaining how the characters unique rock-cleaning obsession comes from her personal fixation. In addition to starring as Liz, Miller also serves as the series music supervisor with Tony Von Pervieux. Throughout the podcast, Miller detailed what its like to curate the series music, divulging she puts all the music in on the first edit and primarily uses new music as a nod to the characters ages and lifestyles.
In addition to working on the music for Shrinking, Miller also worked on the music of Lawrences Ted Lasso, Scrubs and Cougar Town. Although Miller and Lawrences professional and personal partnerships didnt begin until 2002 and 1998, respectively, Miller appeared in several series throughout the 1990s, including Seinfeld, Party of Five and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which led her to join The Drew Carey Show.
After spending seven years at The Drew Carey Show, Miller joined Lawrence for his animated satire, Clone High, and would soon become a recurring character on Scrubs. As Scrubs concluded, she and Lawrence partnered on Cougar Town, and once the sitcom wrapped, Miller appeared in feature films, Hot Air and Breaking In. Miller recently reprised her role in Maxs Clone High reboot.
Meanwhile, Williams said that Gaby was right in [her] wheelhouse, because of the characters ability to swing really hard and do comedy, and then be pretty dramatic. Additionally, Williams acknowledged how she worked to transform the stereotype of a Black female therapist and was encouraged to improvise and incorporate Black American vernacular into Gabys dialogue.
Williams has circled in the comedy scene for nearly two decades. First appearing in Just for Kicks at 17 years old, Williams appeared in several TV movies, short films, web series, as well as popular comedy films and TV shows, including Girls and Hot Tub Time Machine 2.
As she simultaneously guest starred in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and appeared as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, the comedian hosted the 2 Dope Queens podcast with Phoebe Robinson. Once the podcast concluded in 2018, Williams continued her comedy career, taking on more scripted series and films, including Booksmart, Love Life and now Shrinking.
Varietys Awards Circuit podcast, produced by Michael Schneider, is your one-stop listen for lively conversations about the best in film and television. Each week Awards Circuit features interviews with top film and TV talent and creatives; discussions and debates about awards races and industry headlines; and much more. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or anywhere you download podcasts. New episodes post weekly.