Adam Patla
Michael Urie is no stranger to the magic of a TV show that finds its audience. His breakout role was Marc St. James on Ugly Betty which ran for four seasons and continues to attract a passionate and lively audience. Almost twenty years later, Urie finds himself on another major hit with Shrinking, AppleTV’s therapy comedy series that’s striking a major emotional chord with audiences.
“It’s such a powerful tool, television, especially when you’re on shows that are meaningful to people,” Urie says. “I mean, I hear from people about Shrinking all the time, that it’s like their family show, that they watch together, which is so moving to think that, like, we’re watching something that people who love each other sit around and, you know, elbow and nudge and smile and laugh together and it’s just like, that’s awesome….”
Urie plays lovable narcissist Brian, Jimmy’s (Jason Segel) best friend, a role which just earned him his second consecutive Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. This season feels a bit different for Brian as he as he and his husband Charlie (Devin Kawaoka) become fathers. The change forces him to reevaluate the way he prioritizes others in his life, stretching Brian farther than ever.
While the prospect of fatherhood is daunting for Brian, Urie was excited to tackle the story line, saying, “[I]t’s such a complicated thing when same sex couples have a child and I really wanted us to show it. I really appreciated that the writers wanted to tell that story and in such a specific way. I think it’s so interesting about specificity in storytelling is, the more specific you get, the more suddenly relatable it all is. You know, I think there’s a sense that make it for everyone, and then everyone will relate. But it’s actually the opposite.”
The magic of Brian as a character is how big he is without ever dwarfing the emotion at the center of each scene. Urie expertly infuses him with a theatricality that amps up the much-needed laughter, but is still able to allow the emotional truth of each scene to breathe.
“When I was first in shows on TV, the note I always got the first few years on Ugly Betty was bring it down. It was always like do less…. But with Brian…he really does burst into every scene he’s in and…he’s sort of a disruptor that way and that is sort of by design and they’ve done such an amazing job of giving me great entrances. He’s so often not paying attention to what’s going on and that’s like great. So it’s like I can be up here because I’m not reading the room. So it’s really in the writing…. It’s very rare that I read a script and I think, what does this mean or what am I supposed to be playing here? It’s always very clear to me what they want Brian to do.”
Brian’s function within the group goes well beyond just silly one-liners and grand entrances, though. In the world of Shrinking, these characters are never reduced to a tokenization. They carry well-rounded, intricate internal lives that are explored with intention and care.
“[T]o get to play a character who is a minority in his friend’s group, but doesn’t face any homophobia at all from them,” Urie muses. “He is occasionally an outsider, but still belongs. I’m really proud of that.”
This is not the first time Urie’s made a mark on LGBTQ+ representation with one of his characters. Marc St. James arrived amid a turning point for representation for queer characters on mainstream television. His turn as Brian feels indicative of how far we’ve come since Marc hit our televisions; yet he is still showing audiences possibility just in a different way.
“It’s sometimes overwhelming when I hear from people who say Marc showed them what was possible or Betty showed them what was possible or the show showed them New York or journalism,” he says. “I mean, I hear about that a lot. It’s really beautiful that like all those things that that show was about became inspirations to people and that they still look back on it. It’s just really beautiful. And in the same way, now, when I’m stopped by people who like Shrinking, it’s a lot of straight men…these are masculine guys and they love Brian and they are okay talking about their feelings.”
In this day and age, it feels important that a major series like Shrinking creates a space that celebrates men engaging with emotion in a healthy way. For Urie, it’s exciting to see the bridges the show and Brian have built.
“We’re showing men how to take care of themselves and each other and it’s awesome,” he says with a big smile. “It’s so sweet when I see like a hetero dude come up to me and I can see in his eyes how much it means. And he’s telling me. It’s not that he’s telling Bill Lawrence or Jason Segel. He came up to me to say that. And gosh, it’s great.”
You can watch Michael Urie’s amazing work on all three seasons of Shrinking, now streaming on AppleTV. Check out our full interview with Michael!
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