TV Romances
Will ‘HIMYM’s Jason Segel & Cobie Smulders Have a Romance in ‘Shrinking’ Season 3?
No need to make a slap bet, How I Met Your Mother fans. It’s almost certain that Cobie Smulders will be returning to Jason Segel‘s hit Apple TV+ comedy Shrinking.
On May 18, the cast of Shrinking surprised fans at an Emmy Awards FYC event to discuss the show and tease the upcoming season. Segel, who plays Jimmy, an overly honest therapist, was among the panelists. However, it was Christa Miller, who plays his neighbor Liz, who brought up Segel’s former How I Met Your Mother costar’s guest star appearance during Season 2.
Miller shared that she is “obsessed with” Smulders, prompting Segel to discuss why joining forces with her was such a treat. He stated, according to Hope Sloop’s video: “Cobie and I worked together for 10 years. But… I was married on the show,” an obstacle which he argued was the reason why they “never really had that many storylines together.”
Everett Collection
It’s true. During their tenure on How I Met Your Mother, Segel and Smulders’ characters Marshall Eriksen and Robin Scherbatsky were rarely seen as a duo. While Segel spent most of his on-screen time with Alyson Hannigan, who played his wife, Lily Aldrin, Smulders’ character was caught in a love triangle between Ted Mosby and Barney Stinson, played by Josh Radnor and Neil Patrick Harris, respectively.
Looking back at the scenes he shared with Smulders during her stint as Sofi on Season 2 of Shrinking, he remembered realizing that they had “caught something” magical. He shared: “When I watch the [scenes with Cobie Smulders] I’m like: ‘What is it?'” However, he has come to realize that “the magic trick of [their] dynamic is that [while] these characters have just met, you have the sense that they’re kind of meant for each other.”
What creates this kind of immaculate chemistry? As he put it, “We have 20 years of knowing each other. Twenty years of history [during the] very formative years of people being sick, and people having babies, and people being unwell and well.” With 20 years of friendship standing behind Jimmy and Sofi, two characters meeting for the first time, Segel shares that if “it looks like they’ve known each other forever, it’s because we have.”
As production is underway for Shrinking‘s third season, we’re crossing our fingers that they are planning much more screen time for Smulders’ character Sofi. Given Segel’s recent discussion about their chemistry, we’re convinced that, at the very least, Smulders will be reprising her role to explore that potential romantic connection between Sofi and Jimmy.
After all, there has to be some universe where Robin Sparkles and Vanilla Thunder are endgame.
Shrinking, Season 3, Apple TV+, TBA
