Where Everybody Knows Your Name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson (sometimes) - Christa Miller

Episode Date: April 1, 2026

From The Drew Carey Show to Cougar Town, actor Christa Miller has led a distinguished career in TV comedy. She talks to Ted Danson about her second job as a music supervisor for shows like Scrubs and Shrinking, her working relationship with Bill Lawrence, how Shrinking rejuvenated her love of acting, doing scenes with Harrison Ford, and more.    Like watching your podcasts?  Visit http://youtube.com/teamcoco to see full episodes.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Phil talks a lot about breaking frames to break the frame and do something different and change your perception and change my perception about acting, about what I was capable of. Welcome back to where everybody knows your name. I am very excited to be talking with Krista Miller today. I've watched her for many years from the Drew Carey show to Scrubs to Cougar Town and now to the show she's currently starring in, Shrinking. on Apple TV, which is co-created by her husband, Bill Lawrence. And you might not know it, but you've definitely heard her work as a music supervisor, which I can't wait to talk to her about. Here she is, Krista Miller. Like I re-watch old shows, like I re-watch the soprano's, and now I've been re-watching curb your enthusiasm.

And it's, like, also filmed near where I live, so I feel like you and I are neighbors and friends, even though we've never met. but I'm in that world. Yeah. Living near that place. Yeah. Where are you near the Paliset area?

Palis, yes. How'd you do? Sorry. We're okay. Okay. Yeah, we're okay. Thank you. Yeah.

We were okay. We were adjacent to it, but we were out. We're talking about the fire. We were out for about three and a half months for smoke. remediation and all of that. But longer than we needed to, but we were both doing a show together that was starting right around that time,

and we went, let's not deal with that. And so we rented a house in Laurel Canyon. Oh, by the way, we, during the fires, see, we were in a remodel in our house and they almost were coming up to where we were living and our house was like a matchbook, like open because we were in a remodel. we were in a rental.

We stayed with Zach Brath in Laurel Canyon. And I used to live in Laurel Canyon. And I was like, this is so easy to get to work. Yes. Like, you're just going over the hill to work. What studio were you going? Warner Brothers is where we shoot Drinking. And I was like, and when I used to Drew Carey, I lived in Laurel Canyon.

And then Nichols Canyon. And I used to go to Warner Brothers. You can get anywhere. And I was like, oh, Laurel Canyon. But we're a far away from... This is almost a Saturday night. Live skit, right? And they would go over the hill to which studio?

To which studio? We were going to Paramount. We had the best time. Didn't you have the best time? Yes. And then you're also seeing your friends in West Hollywood at all the restaurants and you're going to sushi park. And we missed that.

And we were here in the 70s before your day. And both were starting work here in L.A. in the 70s. But early 70s, that whole Laurel Canyon sound, well, I'm telling you, music was something was so nostalgic. And then we went to Paramount Studios where Mary got her start and where it Cheers was. And it just felt like this memory lane thing was really great. When I lived in Laurel Canyon, I found the place through a friend of mine that grew up in New York. It was, there were like four houses cut up into three apartments.

and Jen Aniston lived in one. There was like working actors, which is very rare to have that many work. And everyone was trying to get on shows. Jen got on friends. I got on Drew Carey. My other friend was on this like dark shadows. Like people were working. Yeah.

And there was, we loved being in Laurel Canyon and we were just this gang of people, you know, rooting each other on. Yeah. And being supportive. And it must have had magical feng shui or something. because that we all got jobs. Who gets jobs? Yeah. Laurel Canyon does.

If you live in Laurel Canyon, I think you get jobs. What is the name of the market that has that great restaurants? Oh, that little... Pache. Pache! Thank you. We felt like we'd discovered it. It's been there forever, but it was delicious.

It's Zach. We love it. Two seconds in when you're talking about Zach from Scrubs. Drew Carey has been on the show. show here, the podcast. And I had never spent time with him, but we share a common interest. And so he was on the podcast, fell in love with him. What an amazing man. Sweet soul. He's not only a sweet soul. He's someone that is an inspiration of someone who's working. When he's not working, he's thinking of other work, you know, other work to do. And I have to tell you,

because he directed me on Scrubs, and Bill and I would get into fights because Bill was sometimes direct Scrubs, and Bill's a great director, my husband, Bill Lawrence. He's amazing. And I would say to Bill, when Zach directs,

it's like being on a movie set. He'll not only directs movies that he's written, but he'll direct. He directed two of Roosters, this new Steve Carrell show, the one that was this week, Zach directed. And when he's on set,

like, so prepared, knows how to talk to actors. Like, he works really hard. Did he, was he on, did he direct a bad monkey? No. No, he was in bad monkey and he did like, he was fantastic, astounding. It was the best role he ever. Yes. Unrecognizable. Yes. Yeah. I love it when when people who you expect that they're going to make you laugh, which creates attention because they don't. Yeah. But you're on the edge of your seat and you're just ready to be swept off your feet and he did it. He did it.

He was so good. Yep. When I saw it, I'm a music supervisor too, so I do the music. We have to talk about that. So I got in early. And I was, I called him and I was like, I really for a minute didn't record, like, you're so good in this. And you've got to lean into that and do more.

Right. And I'm sure he will. Yes, he will. Yeah. And then Harrison Ford was here just the other day with my friend Woody Harrison, who's here sometimes. You can see by this. Yes, sometimes.

Do you know what he? I met him a few times. If you know, sometimes. Yes, sometimes. It's wonderfully appropriate and funny. Harrison. Harrison. I love him.

All right. So we have all, everyone that we have, we have a million people in common and you and I have never met. And Larry David. I know. And Larry David started my career. He rejuvenated mine. Really?

It was like I had gotten, I'm talking too much about myself. Sorry. No. I'm interested. Yeah. he uh um i had done something uh i felt like i'd stayed too long at the half hour party half hour comedy and i thought i'm no longer funny other people are doing it better and i'm and so i started doing just small parts and movies to start doing movies again and then met him

and he showed us a little preview of the pilot uh mary and i and we were in martha's vineyard in this little attic area because they didn't have reception and the handful of people who were there were starting to fall asleep because it was hot watching this and I felt so bad for it because clearly this sucks and was not going to go anywhere. So I said, if you ever need anyone to play themselves, of course we'd come help. You know, and it took off to be this juggernaut that rehabilitated my sense of funny. I mean, I told you, I've been rewatching it. Yeah. And I'm obsessed. And you're so funny on it. It's so, and also I love all the hubbub that everyone thought you and Mary were actually getting divorced. Oh, please. Isn't that crazy?

It's friends. Out of town, friends, granted, but would call to it, wait, what? Are you all right? Yeah. To which Mary said, we decided to get divorced and announce it. By doing this show. All right, let's go back to you. Yeah. So do you have siblings? I have a brother. Fantastic. who's very, very handsome and charming and amazing and lives in New York. You were both raised in New York? Yes, New York City.

Because you have that energy that is like can do, and I can do it fast. Yeah. And you have energy up the wazoo. Yeah. So what was that like? I was growing up with my mom and her second husband in Manhattan, and I was born in New York hospital and went to an all-girl school in New York on every side. Catholic?

Yeah. Comment of the Sacred Heart. It's more private than Catholic. Right. And was an athlete? Was a big athlete in school? I played four varsity sports. I played basketball, volleyball, softball, and tennis.

I lettered in four sports in high school. Wow. But listen, I was at an all-girls school. I understand. I was in an all-boys school, and there were only 300 of us. Yeah. And we won our, you know, basketball champion. any high school could have kicked our ass, but nevertheless.

Just no. I mean, I can throw, oh, do you go, wait, just to, do you go to Martha's Vineyard? Yes. So do you know my aunt and uncle? Do you know Dick Ebersoll and Susan St. James? Yes. Susan St. James is my aunt. I know.

I read that. And she's one of my favorite. I know her better than I know Dick. She is delicious. Yeah. Please give her my regards. I will. She's always so kind.

I don't really have the right to give her a hug when I see her, but she's that person who just embraces you and supports you and your creativity. And it's so sweet. She's been texting me like all the, I just was in New York doing press. And then she'll text. It's so natural. You're so great. I'm so proud of you. And she's still like my mom, very vivacious. And like she's just the same. And she's 80. And I'm like, like, she's just the same. And she's 80. And I'm like, like, that's a super-ager. That's where I want to be. Harrison. And you brought her up just now because you saw her and went, okay, so that's a possibility, acting. Yeah. Yes. Yes? Or did acting come before that? I did. Sorry, you had modeled. You were out in front of people. Well, I had modeled a little as you could my parents. You know, we went to the country on the weekends from New York.

So I was also in the country of the weekends. And my parents, even though my mom was a supermodel, before they coined the turn, but she really was a supermodel. Aside from that, it was a very conservative. I went to all-girls school. My brother went to St. David's. I went to Sacred Heart. And I don't know if you've ever been to that school.

They shoot a lot of movies there. Commonplace's Sacred Heart. It's 91st and 5th. It's the most beautiful school in New York or in the United States. Like, it's two mansions put together. It's really beautiful, 7th Amendment. But we had a very conservative kind of upbringing. It wasn't like my father, my mother's second husband was a surgeon who went to Yale.

You know, my biological father went to UPenn, was a businessman. It wasn't like acting, but I didn't meet my biological father and Susie until I was 16. So I knew about her when I was about 12. and that made me think, oh, I could do that. But in my house, it wasn't something like, and I was doing sports. I wasn't doing plays in high school. And then I started taking classes at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in high school.

And I would go after sports, after homework, and go at night and take classes and at the neighborhood playhouse. Well, wait. You went to the neighborhood playhouse? Yes. As a full-time Sandy Meisner student or after Sandy. It was after Sandy. Yeah, after Sandy. But I went like...

The two-year thing. I didn't do the program. I was in classes there like five days a week, though. Wow. The best. The best. The best. And getting yelled at because your project wasn't complicated enough.

Oh. Nice. But, you know, your thing that you're tasked. Independent activity. and an activity. So, yeah. And I used to walk. It's funny, I was just thinking about this because of the music.

I was putting music into doing an episode of Steve Carrell yesterday that they couldn't figure out. And I was sitting with my husband. So the only time we fight, we don't fight at work, but we fight over the music because I'm better at it than he is. And I was doing it yesterday. And I thought, you know, my whole life, I mean, since the first iterations, of any sort of Walkman or anything like that.

I would walk around New York, listening to music, and thinking of myself in a movie and how that would go and writing it. So it's like since I was little, and also we would drive back to the country, and I would make tapes and put my ear next to like a tape recorder and think of myself. I would write movies for myself and think of myself in them with the music. And it's like my childhood prepared me for,

what I do as a career now. But you have starred in, first, Drew Carey. We'll go back to the origins of all of this, but Drew Carey, Scrubs, Cougar Town, and now shrinking, basically, with lots of other stuff in there as well. And you've also, since Scrubs, been a music supervisor.

Yeah. Right? Yes. Which is a huge part of your life. I mean, like, this is not, oh, you're married to the boss kind of thing. You do this for films. You do this where you are looking at a film, aren't you?

We just got offered a film. That's right. And I had to pass. I love acting as my true love. And I have a partner. And I love, you know, they always choose from my music and the editors. We work as a team. You know, the editors sometimes put some of my music in

in unexpected places and make my job easier. And obviously doing shrinking is like the ultimate, it's like mainlining heroin, I would assume, because it's so interesting to be shooting and thinking of the music and then putting it in. You get a thing called Frisson, which was when you get goosebumps. You know, like when you're working on a show and doing the music, it's crazy. But I also love it when I'm not working on a show. But I can't do, I can only right now. do Bill's shows.

And like when I do, I was able to do scrubs because Zach has such great taste of music. And he helps me. So I have, there's three of us working on it. All right. As a music supervisor, are you, you're not doing, you're not composing the theme song. You're not composing. You do hire. So your hand is on every part of the music.

Yes. But then the supervisor part, is that all. found music that comes out of a radio? Yes. So my job is this. So we have a few composers that we love and use. One's Tom Howie, who lives, who's English and he did shrinking. And then, like, for example, so a music supervisor, Apple came to us two weeks before, like the show, three weeks before the show is going to air and said, oh, we want to do an original. song for the opening. I'm like, well, and we have the composer and we have the score.

And so my daughter, who's like a musician, like, for real, classically. Yeah, like, for real. She had been working with Ben Gibbard. This is how, like, and I've all these connections, the music world, who was in a group called Death Cab for Cutie and Postal Service, who we had put on scrubs, and it made them. Like, they had the $30,000 to buy an amp. We always used to new music, and that's why, because music's given me so much. So I feel like I love giving back to new musicians because it really helps, and TV's the new radio. So Ben, we put it on Scrubs. That song became a hit, and then they would play it in concert, and then their band, like, and he always remembers that. He's working with Charlotte producing, and he's working with her

now to produce her next album. And I called Ben Gibbard, and I said, could you work with our composer? It's not even like, can you do it on your own? And then have a theme, song in two weeks. He's like, yep, and they did. And, like, it was amazing. But so the, the, the score, Tom is in charge of, like, musical cues and we'll listen to the music. He's giving us a bunch of things to listen to of, like, do you want to go in this direction? That's a process. How do you want to, you know, like, what's going to be the sound of the show? Throughout all the episodes. The composed music. Yeah. What's going to be the sound? And when you're doing a pilot, as you know, many cooks in the kitchen. You know, then you got...

I don't know it at your level. Okay, so on Apple is a lot, they had a lot of things to say, everything needs to be perfect, you know, so it's... Apple gives us no notes now. Like, but when you're doing the pilot, you're going to get like, should it be this, should it be this, should it be this. I mean, I did like four different kinds of music till we went back to my, what I originally wanted to do. What was the sense of what you wanted to accomplish with that? So this is... This is what I wanted to do. I wanted. So Scrubs, we had, because it was from Zach's point of view and he had the voiceover,

we really only used male singer-songwriters, kind of indie singer-songwriter. So it was very specific. I just can hear it. There's just something I can hear of like what's going to be a great song. And we launched a lot of careers. And it was incredible. But those days were hard to clear music because people, now everyone wants their song to be on a TV show. Then people wouldn't.

So we had to use new music. new artists. And on shrinking, I thought, I want to use new music. I'm not limited to male. Harrison, sometimes I'm going to put in

something older, something I love, something favorite for Harrison. You mean ancient? But sorry, go on, go on. You know, like from the dark age. You know, from the 1800s. So that kind of music

I'm very familiar with. You know, for Harrison, like he yelled at me. At one point, we had a wait of wedding. and he yelled to me. He's like, why is it so fast? And so for his wedding this season, I made sure that we did something. I did Beast of Burden because that's slow. And you can even slow dance to it. I'm not going to piss off Harrison. And they're like, I'm not doing anything fast. Like, wouldn't it be fun if there was another day? I go, no. It's Harrison. I'm not going to be yelled at him by him again. Yeah. Beast of Burden. We love it. Do you ever want to write songs, have you? No, my daughter's a beautiful songwriter.

Yeah. See, this is one of the criss crosses for me. Mary, Steenbergin, my wife, actor, and songwriter that came out of total left field. I'll do her story very quickly, but she, I think she was 57, had a minor operation on her arm to remove something, nothing too dangerous or anything. But they had to put her under. Band-Aid, you know, next day we get on a plane and fly to Europe. But she was a little different from my point of view. Inside her head was just a torrent of music obsession.

She is actually, it's a condition that people have written about called, there's a book called Musicophilia, where you go from a normal relationship to music, to, it doesn't mean you're talented or a genius. It means your focus on music goes from normal to obsession. She could not have acted. She could not have memorized the line. It was hard for her to have a conversation. If there was background music, she couldn't focus.

If she hears footsteps, it turned into a rhythm that turned into a, you know, a tune. Does this happen from anesthesia? Like sometimes, like, is that? Yes. people later on, because first she thought she was crazy. Yeah. And then she read up on it. And she defensively started to write down what was in her head because she knew she had kids and her family.

I mean, really, I was living with somebody different, noticeably different. And she started writing, she wrote 40 songs. She had that summer and she had a music, I mean, her wedding. performer musician who was really good, do the chords and sing these songs as a demo, turned them into her manager, who turned them into a music lawyer, who then said, yes, without putting her name on it

because she didn't want to be that actress that wanted to do music. Anyway, she's now, she's won a Critics' Choice Award. She's the real deal. She writes music for end-credit songs and films and stuff. That's crazy. Isn't that crazy? But I love that you have acting and musing.

Hand in hand is just amazing. And it's kind of what Mary has been different. But you should tell Mary, because I have a strength that I've had for 26 years. She's actually Harrison's characters based on my psychiatrist. Yeah. Who's amazing, who we love, Dr. Phil Stutz. And he said to me, just like a month ago, I've been seeing him 26 years. And he said, when you talk about music, someone,

else was talking me as there's a term called musical hyper hedonia. He said, I think you have that. It's when you hear music in a different way than other people. Or it's, and it's important to you. And it's the feeling, the relationship. Which you've had since that little girl. Since I was a little girl. You said that curb your enthusiasm, you know, brought your Kirkberg. I think shrinking has given me this renaissance in my career that doing the show with the people I'm doing it with has been so inspiring to me that it's when Phil says that to me, it's made me go more and more and more and more. And more and more do that just engaged with

the world. Just doing doing this, doing shrinking. Yeah. It's getting. It's getting. It's given me like a whole other person, like Phil talks a lot about breaking frames to break the frame and do something different and change your perception and change my perception about acting, about what I was capable of, about going out, like just being with people. And one of the things like Jason is like, a day's not good. unless I've been embarrassed four times. And I'm like... Jason Siegel said that?

Yeah. I love that. Don't you love it? So it's not a good day unless you've tried something either dramatically or comedically that there's just crickets that everyone looks at you. Yes. Especially if you can have a sense of humor because I am an asshole. I make a fool of myself all the time.

And yet I can chuckle. It's good for you. Most of the time. Most of the time I have a sense of humor about what I do. Let me just ask you this, because you and I do something similar that not a lot of people do. You work with your wife often. Yes. And how does that go for you?

Fantastic. You love it, right? Yes. Yeah. What are the rules? What are rules that Mary puts on you? No. No?

Well, we worked early on. But my last work experience is just my dream. And it's when we're in Laurel Canyon working on a man on the inside, great writer, Mike Shore, who's just brilliant. And I've worked with now six, seven years. And so we had beautiful material. But we got to fall in love on camera. It comes from Bill, who runs the loveliest set. Like when he says a no...

Has to. Look who he works. But everyone says, oh, we have a no asshole. Bill really has a no asshole. If you're an asshole, you're gone. And it's business. We don't do it. And so down from Bill to Jason, then you got Jason, Segal, and Harrison.

When we show up to do the rehearsal, you know, the first rehearsal, there's no scripts on the set. Everyone knows their lines backwards forwards. Oh, holy moly. So guest stars come in. Maybe I won't be working with your husband. There's no scripts, Ted. Yeah. You come on.

Oh, just cue cards, you mean? Yeah, just cute cards. Just big cute cards for us. So, no, I have an ear thing like Marlon Brando. So there's no scripts. And Harrison's like, I've never worked. You come in rehearsal, everyone knows a thousand percent. So you are really listening.

And everyone says, oh, do you improv on that show? We don't. No. That's written. We don't improv. It looks like it because we've been playing. We all know the material and we're all in the moment. Like, I'll finish a scene.

I won't even remember. happened in the scene. I... That's the best. I don't remember. I watch the show like everyone else. And you're surprised. I'm surprised. And I don't remember. And I, everyone has a different acting style on the show, but everyone knows their lines. I think it's like, everyone shows up on time. Everyone's lovely. Everyone is supportive and everyone knows their lines. And you have fun. It's the most fun job to be able to. Sure. And that's why people think we do improv on the show and we don't.

Right. It's all written. Why would you improvise when you have a room full of writers? I'm not a writer. Me either. I'm not a writer. I'm not a comedy writer. The most fun is when Bill comes in, because Bill doesn't have an ego, so I love Bill.

He doesn't have an ego about like, that's not really working. And he whispers, so it will see much. improv because I'm hearing a line from someone else where I'm saying a line that they haven't heard because Bill will whisper. So, and, you know, Judapato does that. A lot of people do that. And Bill's really funny.

Will it take the scene in a different direction? Sometimes. Does the other actor have to respond in, from his line? The other actor will respond in the line, but sometimes you laugh and Bill likes when people laugh because he thinks people laugh in real life. Yeah. So if you laugh, it's just a different, and then you go with that.

So you're always, feeling that you can do no wrong which is a wonderful place when you feel like as an actor you have carte blanche yeah that it doesn't matter how i do this it's it's in the writing and to get these beautiful scripts and then i obviously i work on you know i shut myself in my office my weekend i have an intent i have all of that stuff i have notes on my script and then it's no scripts on set so it's all away it's all thrown away i'm just with harrison I have to tell you. So I had a scene with Harrison.

I mean, Harrison's so good to work with. If you're doing a scene with him, you can just look at him and you're going to be great. You're going to be better than you are, really. So I'm doing a long scene with Harrison on a park bench. And it was like this emotional scene that I have with him. And I walk in. And I, Bill's watching the rehearsal.

I do the whole scene with Harrison. I'm just like this. In his eyes. And I think I'm so good. Like, I think I'm just like, like maybe an Oscar, like, from the television show. And Bill's like, Krista, like, yeah.

He goes, did you forget how to act? I'm like, that was, he goes, it's a five-minute scene. You can't stare into his eyes the whole time with this emotional that you'd be looking out. What are you doing? And Harrison's like, of course, she's looked at me.

Look, her hands slam. And then I was like, oh, right. Like, I can't. I can't. But, you know, when someone's so good and he changes his performance imperceptible. You know, it's like it's just this little, so it's like if you're, so you have to save it,

though, so I have to remember to look around because then I want to go back. I have to ask you more because I'm hearing everything you said, obviously. But it terrified me. I will forget a line. Do you call for lines? Yeah, you can call for lines. Oh, I can work with your husband. Oh, people forget their lines.

No. Oh, no, no. people forget their lines all the time. Oh, good. No, people go, oh, we have plenty of blueprints on our show. No, it's not that. But people are ready to go. Yes.

And I think, you know, I mean, they're just ready to go right from the get-go and excited to be there. And so it makes they're passionate and the crew's passionate. And it's made me passionate about acting again. I mean, through all these shows. And then I also had three children. And I was, you know, when you have children, you kind of lose ambition a little.

And Bill was working so hard. I couldn't really, after Coogutown, it's like I can't go to Georgia and film this independent movie. My husband works 16 hours a day, and I have three small children. I chose to have three small children. Is shrinking the first thing you did after kids? I did a couple of jobs. Right.

And then it was the pandemic. And then, you know, I really made a choice to be a mom. right after Kirkgerton, I was offered a show in New York, and I thought, well, how's that going to work? And I have a two-year-old. And I mean, my kids were little. And I just thought, I need to be a mom. And I'm so happy that I did that. And I'm so lucky and privileged that I got another chance because I'm telling you,

had all these offers right after Kuketan, the very next year. It was like, oh, are you going to read for that? you're going to read for that pilot? Are you going to put yourself on tape for that? I was like, oh, what happened in a year? And the train keeps moving, man. The train keeps moving. And also then you're kind of like, well, I'm doing mom things now.

I'm all mom friends and doing the mom things. And then I'm so lucky that I get to be married to Bill Lawrence. And that he had this script. I mean, he had this script a year before they shot it. And I was starting to get sent scripts again after. How many years have been? break with your kids? Four or five. I did a few jobs.

It's probably the best thing that happened in your career. It was the best. And it was, it was the best. You came back the new and improved and better and different. You, and that's pretty cool, I think. Yeah, by the way, also Liz's character is based on, there was a steep learning curve. When you're a working mom and you have a nanny and people help me with all this stuff, when you're being a mom and you have to bring snacks and you've got to go to baseball games and there's like snacks and there's like things to do and there's homework like all this stuff I didn't know

any of this stuff and all those moms that you think are annoying they like got me through and taught me how to do all the things and and it's humbling it's too very humbling you come in with humility that's different earned and I was lucky because I still was doing music for billsters so I wasn't not working. But that, you know, I could do from home. And I got to be with my children and we are a very close family. And Bill was working really hard. And yeah, but this show I knew about, and I was starting to get other scripts coming in. And I was like, I just want to do shrinking. I just, Brett Goldstein had written a dark. Do you not love him? Of course I love Brett. He's my boyfriend. Teddy's my, my,

One of my boyfriends. I totally get it. You get it, right? You get a whole pass or something. For sure. Yeah. No, I can't believe I said that. I've never said that before.

I don't know what a whole pass is. But anyway, what a lovely soul. Oh, my God. I know. Please give him my love. I will. So he was writing a dark. Yeah, give me the origin of shrinking, the whole thing.

So Bill is on Ted Lassow with Brett, who is a writer, who is a writer, and then they couldn't cast that part and then... Love that. So you know that. So then Bill and Brett became very close and we all became close. And then Brett started writing this dark shrink show. It was a comedy but very

dark and he had Krista as well he wrote it like with me and mind as one of the characters. And Bill and I was like, and Bill was starting to talk about different shows he was doing with Carl Heison, like Bad Monkey and all the things. I was like, I want to do Brett's show. He's like, what do you talk? I go, I want to do Brett show.

He's writing it for me. I want to do Brett show. And so then they got together and thought, let's combine. He wanted a base show off Phil. He knows my shrink very well, too. And they combined it. And then Bill's like, but there's other shows. My agent was sending me other, at this point, starting to send other script.

Yeah. And I was like, I just want to do shrinking. And Bill's like, we're not even shooting it for 10 months. It was like the writer's strike. He's like, we're not, don't even have it. I was like, I don't. I don't care. You know, it doesn't matter.

And I'm glad I waited. And how'd Jason fit in? So Jeff Ingold, who's the president of Bill's company of Duzer, has had a little place in Ventura on the beach. And he saw Jason Segal walking on the beach. And he called Bill and goes, what about Jason Seagull for this part? wouldn't he be amazing? And Bill called Jason Siegel

and they had the meeting and, you know, Bill should, you know, come into the fold because Jason also writes. And Jason said yes. And then I'm sure Brett told you how Harrison got on the show, right? He opened the door with a cup with a drink or something.

But he had all these scripts. He was like, he got sent this script because Bill's like, let's shoot for the stars. you know. And Bill's favorite, one of his favorite show was MASH. You know, he was like, is it Al-Nold is it? Like, shoot for the stars. And he said, they sent it to Harrison. And I was like, oh, it has to be Harrison Ford. Like it has also my shrink now, who's, you know, he's from the Bronx in New York. Well, no, he's from the Upper West Side. He'll tell me. He's from the Upper West Side of New York. Like, you know, he's also a basketball player, like, tough guy. He's like, Harrison Ford's portraying

me. I'm retiring. Like, it's done. And they're friends now. But so Harris got the script and loved it and just got it. Like it just, he just went, oh, because the pilot was so good. Pilot was incredible. And I've never, we did a table read. The first two episodes for the Apple people, the Warner Brothers, the studio was packed. We killed as I'm walking out. Just tell them, you will know that this doesn't happen.

I'm walking out. And the Apple execs are walking out right behind me. I go, aren't she staying for notes? And they said, no notes. That's great. Anyway, so Harrison and Bill said to Brett, Harrison's in London, you've got to meet him. You've got to meet him now. You know, we got to.

And he walked in and Brett said he saw this shrinking was there amidst all these other scripts. And Harrison's never done television before. And he said, I love it. And then Brett goes, you do it? He goes, yeah, I want to do it. He goes, should we go out drinking? And then he just drank Brett under the table. And then the next day Bill's like, he's, well, he's doing it?

Yeah. Book? Will you write a book ever? No, no need. Do you have any? I mean, you have music and you have acting. I feel like I can, I, this is, there's, I feel like I have a disconnect. I can write really great emails and really funny texts.

And, I mean, I can write really funny things. And then when I sit down to like, write, because my childhood was a little bit. but insane and crazy. So you were writing for your shrink? No, just for myself. Like if I was just going to write, because everyone all tells people some stories of my childhood and things that have happened

and living in New York, you know, in that way that you live in New York. They're insane. I mean, a lot of my friends are dead and I had trust funds and a lot of things happen. When I sit down to write, there's a little bit of a disconnect and then I feel a separation from it.

So maybe I need to get anesthesia from Mary. Just a quick one. From where Mary went. Do you know what I mean? Trust me, I went. You tried it? Nothing.

Shit, nothing. I just am hoping, if I go to Mary's guy, he obviously has something in the anesthesia. Yeah. Then does Mary sing? No, no, Mary's not an artist. She's a songwriter. She's a songwriter. She's sung in films because you can go in and, you know.

Yeah. All of that. And she's good. She's really good. But she has no desire to write for herself. She wants the best artist possible, you know, to sing it. That's the coolest, craziest, weirdest, weirdest rock star, rock star story.

I mean, I just think it's so flat. It's such a flex. Yeah, it is. It's just a flex. It's so rock star. It's also that she leaned into it and just went with it. That's the cool thing about it. She was willing to be.

the least talented, according to her, the least talented person in the room over and over and over again to learn the crap. She didn't walk in knowing anything, really. Yeah, that she went, you know what, I have this thing. Yeah. First of all, it would be a little scary to be a different, to have, to, I think that would be frightening. Yeah. Like what happened and then to go, oh, okay. Well, I love it. I'm going to, even if I don't love it, even if I'm not scared of it, it. I'm going to reframe it and change my perception and lean into it and say, yes, thank you. Yes, thank you. That, I don't, I just, I think it's inspiring. It's what I'm trying to do in my life. It's what you're trying to do by having a podcast. I now officially love you. You just crossed over

into, I love you. We're in love. Because you see my wife. I see her. I get it, but also not everyone can do it. No. That's one of my favorite traits in a human being is willingness. And she has a willingness. She, I am, I am Mary's rag tail to her kite. I'm the one that's going, oh, no, no, no. Why don't think, oh, maybe you shouldn't try that. She just leaps off of tall buildings. I think it's the coolest.

I mean, I have, you know, I don't know how long you've been married, 26 years. That's very cool. three. Yeah, and I have a husband who says, you're my muse. You can do it. You're the best. You can do more. You can do... How about that? Look at you. What you're doing.

Like, I could write anything for you. Like, I have a husband who is that, and I think that of him. Just off of what you said, he's probably the world's best father, too. Best. Because that's what daddies do. They make their daughters feel

astounding. Like my daughter, we arrive in Dublin. She's opening for this big papyrus, you won't know named Somber, but he's huge, huge. She arrives in Dublin and usually for the opener,

17,000 people in the sense, for the opener, you know, if you're in a big place, they're just, they're talking, they're getting their seats, you know, you don't really go out for the opener. The headliner's not there. She walks out 17,000 people. Now, Meanwhile, I'm, like, I'm right.

Oh, you went there? I, of course. I was a groupie. I just came back from London and Ireland the last night. She, there's two huge screens of her. It's like 17,000 people. They immediately know, 17,000 people know the words of all her songs. Oh, oh, really?

Oh, my God. Ted, I had to go, I had to use childhood trauma to shut it down because I thought, I'm going to start crying. It's not about me. It can't make this about me. Yeah. I really, I was like, okay, I know how to do this. I know how to compartmentalize and like shut this down.

Because, I mean, all the flashlights, I just, you know, Bill, because he doesn't have child and travel, we could just be crying and be okay. And like, get over it. I just thought once I start, it just might lead down a road of like, drugs. Yeah, I don't want. Take me to some psychiatric place in Switzerland. How would you describe your moral center? you're what's right, what's wrong.

Obviously, instinctive as well, but do you have that kind of, where do you turn to to go in a dilemma or fear or whatever? You know, I've done a lot of work in changing perception and having compassion, leading with compassion. You know, if there's an annoying neighbor or, like, Phil doesn't let me have road rage. He's like, you don't know what that person's going through

or if it's your kid learning to drive or someone's going to the, like, I just, it's just dropped. So I try to do when things come up and Phil works with tools. He'll say, you got to stop doing that. And I'm going to tell you how. That's why I had hope with him. And then eventually you don't have that feeling anymore. You know, I felt always, as an adult,

I had to be very hypervigilant around me. I didn't feel safe. You didn't feel safe around just in certain environments and in things and just, you know, I can read the room really well. And now I'm just not having, I'm just relaxing into myself and leading with compassion and goodwill and saying yes to things that I wouldn't say yes to before. So relaxing in your body, isn't it, to be where you're. now. And available. I had a thing yesterday, some annoying neighbor near our rental just did something, I mean,

crazy. And then I went, oh, no, I might be annoyed by that, even though we're right. But like, that might be annoying. Let's do something to mitigate, you know, even though we're out of here in a couple. Like, so I'm just trying to do that at every turn. And you know what it does? It's just like, the stress, I don't, I don't need to be mad or annoyed. or, I mean, I'm not perfect.

I just, when you lead with goodwill and kindness, like Charlotte, you, there's no one you, there's, actors she met once, if you're like, I didn't love them and that, she's like, don't, please don't say anything about that person. That's who she is. Yeah. My journey was different.

I had to learn that I was a dick, that I was capable of being me, that I had, you know, I had a very dark side as well, Because if you don't allow that, you're not really choosing. You're an automatic pilot, nice. So you're kind of like Bill. Yeah. Bill, Bill.

And Mary fires from the hip and has to learn not to fire from the hip. And if you fuck with one of her own, whew! Now, Bill was the only problem is that Bill was that never doesn't want to have a confrontation. And he would give in to the kids. When you have three kids, I would. I was the one that was strict, and we would have fights. And then finally, finally I'd gotten them all together. He was in London doing Ted Lesser.

He'd come back and starts unraveling everything, just unraveling, giving iPads back. I was like, you got to, you need to go to therapy because I get. You're making me the bad guy. Yeah, and you're unraveling. And we got to be a team. We have to be a team. And you can't give, he would also give punishments like, and now, and then you can't breathe for a month.

Well, then you're going to have to walk that back. Right. Like, that's going to have to be walked back. Yes. And then they don't get the punishment. And then they would just torture him, you know, with me, you know, they would be. And then they would, and I go, they're torturing you because they know you're going to give a crazy punishment. And then you're going to walk back.

And then you'll also that him feel bad. Yeah. Do it back giving him the punishment. Yeah. And so when he's not like that at work, but he would, it. within the family. So now I'm like, this is how we do. We're team.

Nothing is decided. We'll get a text in. Like, I was wondering, I'm like, Bill, don't even answer. We're going to discuss it together. I'm so bad about that. Why? I want to be loved, I guess. But they're not going to respect.

Oh, that's Bill. Yeah. Not at work. And angers forever. It's not a cloud. You got to say no. I know. But that's not helping them.

I know. And that grandbaby, you better not be doing. that. Well, it's a little bit more in my corner at that point. A little more in your corner, but you can't just do. That's true. No, well, grandparent, I guess you can. I mean, I'm going to, I'm going to be worse. You get shit from your kids for doing it, but it's, yes. That's so fun that you have a granddad. Five. We have five. Okay, at this point, having. Are we best friends? Are we best friends? And I want to meet Mary. I still want to ask, yes. But we have busy lives.

But if it ever turns out, and we don't like going out, you and I. Living room. Listening to music. Yeah. I love that you put the caveat. I'm not saying yes to going out to do anything. I'm not either.

Don't worry about it. If you do want to reach out, please reach out to Mary and ask how I am. Don't, don't reach out directly. Do you think a phone call from me is coming anytime soon? No. I love being in my house. You've met me now.

But I do. That hurt a little bit. My intention, Ted, my intention is that I would love to do that. Yeah, I know. Mine too. Okay. So if it happens, it'll be very sweet. And it'll be around music and I love that.

It'd be great. Okay. All right. Can I ask just, and we don't have to be political. Okay. Well, we don't have to be partisan. A lot of fear, a lot of anger, a lot of sadness swirling around us. I sometimes don't know what to do.

and I wrestle with it. I know how I feel, but what to do. How's your heart, is my question in this moment. It's really hard. You know, I love getting up in the morning, having coffee and reading the news, and it feels lately like, why are you starting your day like this,

feeling helpless and hopeless? And I have a problem with unfair and I feel like we're living in a very unfair situation that you go and then like it's and and and then I don't want to be inured to what's going on. But I think it's very, very sad and where to start, you know, I mean, I liken it to having a second chapter in life, where to start the moves to make a difference to change things, to help, to be of service. I don't know what that is.

Little things. I mean, little things to be of service, but where are you making a difference? Yeah, me too. I think all of us forget because it's impossible to really know what the ripple effects are of your actions. but actions or your thoughts or your emotions. I mean, the fact that you are putting out love in your work and your music and you're putting out creativity does have a ripple effect that you can't really know. And look, I have a lot, Harrison will talk about it as well.

We have a lot of people. Instead of selfies and things like that, we have a lot of people going, you know, I was dealing with grief. If someone in my life was Parkinson's, you know, Phil has Parkinson's. And just really, your show, you loved, it really helped me. And then they walk away. Yep. And it's like, it's weird.

It's great. It's lovely. You get to have an exchange. They don't need to have the picture. They're talking to you as a person. And then you're interested. Yes. Yes.

Picking material, I think, is a contribution and important. You know, I think shrinking is brilliant for that reason. And you for being in it. Thank you. Yeah. I really had fun talking to you. Really nice to get to know you in a little bit. Thank you.

I had so much fun too. Yeah. Thanks. Well, that was fun. I really enjoyed that. Thank you, Krista. Catcher on Shrinking on Apple TV. Just a fantastic show full of so many wonderful actors.

That's it for this week. Special thanks to Team Coco. If you've enjoyed this episode, please send it to a loved one. Rate and review. on Apple Podcasts, if you have a mind. Once again, you can watch our full-length video episodes at YouTube.com slash team cocoa. See you next time, where everybody knows your name. You've been listening to Where Everybody Knows Your Name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson sometimes. The show is produced by me, Nick Leow, our executive producers are Adam Sacks,

Jeff Ross, and myself. Sarah Federovich is our supervising producer. Engineering and mixing by Joanna Samuel with support from Eduardo Perez. Research by Alyssa Graal. Talent booking by Paula Davis and Gina Batista. Our theme music is by Woody Harrelson, Anthony Yen,

Mary Steenbergen, and John Osmore.