The really great thing about Apple TV’s Shrinking is that, as a viewer, you absolutely root for everyone. With its signature Bill Lawrence blend of comedy and drama and a community of chosen family that anyone would long to be part of, every lead and supporting character is an essential part of the fabric of this beautiful show. 

The award-winning performances from Harrison Ford, Jason Segel, Jessica Williams, Michael Urie, Christa Miller, Ted McGinley, Lukita Maxwell, and Luke Tennie over Shrinking’s first three seasons are even further enhanced by the perfectly cast friends, partners, patients, and colleagues that we get to see play with them in this world.

On that note, I’m on a mission to interview as many people from the show as possible, in an attempt to bring something close to a complete oral history of Shrinking to Nerd Reactor.

This week I was thrilled to chat with Rachel Stubington who plays Summer, best friend to Alice (Maxwell). It’s surprising to hear that Shrinking was her first major acting role as she blends so seamlessly into this cast, hitting us with iconic one-liners and comedic relief sprinkled across some often heavy storylines.

“The blessing of being on a Bill Lawrence show, and you see it in Ted Lasso too, is that they’ll take characters in the first season that walk by in the background and then by season three you meet their families and they have a life,” said Stubington. “I think it’s so cool that he weaves them into so many different parts of the story.”

Looking back on when she first landed the role, she remembers, “I had just graduated college and was in the movie theater seeing Jurassic World when I got the email for the audition. I remember reading the character description and it felt like something that I could realistically do, and then I saw right underneath it said Jason Segel and Harrison Ford and I thought ‘It was fun while it lasted’. And now I still can’t believe it. I feel like I have to dissociate a little bit when it comes to Shrinking because it’s so far beyond anything I thought I could be a part of. I owe everything to Shrinking.”

Reflecting on how she has grown as an actor over the course of the show, Stubington comments, “I always want to bring something grounding to Summer and approach her with as much depth as possible. Even when I get scenes where I have one line, I’ll always make sure I know where she’s coming from and what’s going on in her life. I want to see Summer’s mom and meet her family so badly.”

I completely agree, as the show has been telling stories about Summer’s mom and painting her as a wild character for years. In fact, we both had the exact same thought: she reminds us of Jane Lynch as Pam Puckett, Sam’s mom on iCarly. Can we get the showrunners’ attention and manifest this into existence for a future season? Only time will tell.

Tune into our full conversation in the video above. And stay tuned for Stubington’s directorial debut on Copy, Credit, No Pay, which she also wrote and starred in alongside her best friend Jacob Cherry. It will premiere on Vimeo later this month.

The 11-episode third season of “Shrinking” debuted globally with a one-hour premiere episode on Wednesday, January 28, on Apple TV, and continues with one episode weekly through April 8, 2026.