Marshall and Robin are back on screen together once again. During the inaugural Newport Beach TV Fest, Jason Segel confirmed that Cobie Smulders, who starred alongside him on “How I Met Your Mother” for nine seasons, will return in Season 3 of “Shrinking.”
Smulders made a guest appearance during Season 2 as a woman that Jimmy brought a car from to gift to his daughter. There were initial sparks but the friendship didn’t go any further… yet.
“I don’t want to give too much away, but she pops back around,” said Segel, who was presented with Variety‘s Creative Impact in Television Award at the festival. “But the magic trick of that casting is we have known each other for 20 years, through thick and thin. But the characters have only just met, so when we’re interacting, I think you subconsciously feel like they’ve known each other forever.”
So, does Segel feel Jimmy is ready for a relationship now?
“Yeah, I do,” he responded. “I think that this funny thing happens where when you’re doing a lot of personal work that’s solo, you get to a point where you’re like, I am ready to date. And then you try, and you’re like, I was wrong. That’s been my experience. So I think he’ll probably deal with that a bit.”
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Jimmy previously had a bit of a fling with Jessica Williams’ Gaby, but Segel is staying tight-lipped about whether or not any romantic sparks will fly between the now just-coworkers again.
“I can’t talk about that one because I don’t know quite what’s going to happen,” he laughed. “As one of the executive producers and writers on the show, I have no idea.”
Segel confirmed that co-creator Brett Goldstein will be back on screen this season, along with a new cast member, Jeff Daniels. Daniels has been cast as Jimmy’s dad.
“Jimmy has a complicated relationship with his parents. I think you will find out this season why Jimmy projects so much onto Paul, why it is so important that Harrison Ford gives him validation,” he said. “It’s not lost on me that [Jeff] is the last version of me — either Jeff Daniels or Judge Reinhold. We’re doing these scenes next to each other, and our mannerisms are kind of the same, and neither of us are doing a bit. We’re making the same choices, so it’s perfect casting.”
Michael J. Fox will also be a guest star during Season 3, an experience Segel says has been “a dream” as he looked up to Fox often in his career when he wasn’t sure what was next.
“[My friends and I] would talk about Michael J Fox — he was doing his TV show and ‘Back to the Future’ at the same time, and sleeping in his trailer and all that. He was a real inspiration,” Segel said. “We would we would talk about him all the time, and I got to tell him that when he came to set. ‘Hey, there were times when I told myself, “The only way I’m going to make it through tonight is because I know you did it.”‘ And that was really special to be able to get to say to him.”
“Shrinking” Season 3 is in production now.
From Variety US