Michael Urie reveals a new — and perhaps unlikely — costar he clicked with on set.
Urie, 45, plays main character Jimmy’s (Jason Segel) narcissistic yet supportive best friend, Brian, in the Apple TV original series Shrinking. Filming for the third season of the highly acclaimed series wrapped in late summer, and Urie exclusively teased to Us Weekly what — and who — we may see with his character in the upcoming season.
“Well, season three has amazing guest stars: Jeff Daniels, Michael J. Fox, Candice Bergen. I may or may not work with a baby a lot,” Urie told Us at the opening night of Ragtime on Broadway on October 16. “I have to say that, you know, they say, ‘Don’t work with babies,’ but I may not fall in love with acting opposite babies.”
“I really feel like I bonded with them and made an imprint. Maybe they imprinted on me,” Urie continued.
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Other notable cast members include Harrison Ford, Jessica Williams, Christa Miller, Brett Goldstein, Ted McGinley, Luke Tennie and Lukita Maxwell.
In Shrinking, Urie’s character often makes references to award-winning actress Bernadette Peters, which Urie says the writers include because they “know” him and his love of Broadway so well.
“The writers know me. I never put those in. They put them in,” Urie told Us. “Also Sutton Foster. Did you catch that?”
Urie is largely known for his breakout role as Marc St. James on Ugly Betty, where he starred alongside America Ferrera, Vanessa Williams, Ana Ortiz, Eric Mabius and more. He has also appeared on Broadway in productions such as Hamlet, Torch Song and more recently in Cole Escola’s Oh, Mary!, and is set to star in the Off-Broadway production of Shakespeare’s Richard II, which is directed by Craig Baldwin, at the end of October.
In 2019, Urie cofounded Pride Plays, an initiative dedicated to “amplifying queer voices, celebrating our stories.” In early June, the organization partnered with Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., to host a three-day, free play festival. Later that month they also held a single day reading of four new plays in New York City.
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Urie, who has been acting for over 20 years now, shared with Us a recent encounter he had with someone from the earlier days of his career.
“This just happened the other night. I was just standing outside the Astor Place Theater where we’re doing Richard II, taking a picture of myself in front of the picture of me,” Urie told Us. “I was taking a picture of me in front of the [marquee]. And this kid walked by, this college age kid. He was like, ‘Oh, hey, we were in a movie together. I played your son.’ That literally just happened.”
The movie was “Such Good People” and Urie shared that they filmed it over 14 years ago. Forrest Wheeler played Little Kuenlay, the son of Urie’s Richard and Randy Harrison’s Alex.
Though an exact date hasn’t been released for Shrinking season three yet, Urie told Us that it is “coming out soon.”
Reporting by Leigh Scheps.
