Michael Urie Teases Brian’s Next Chapter on Shrinking (Exclusive)

Michael Urie has played just about every kind of queer character you can imagine.

Over the years, he’s starred in groundbreaking series like Ugly Betty, led Netflix’s first gay holiday rom-com with Single All the Way, conquered Broadway, tackled Shakespeare, and now earned his first Emmy nomination for playing Brian on Apple TV+’s Shrinking.

So when Urie says a storyline surprised him because he’d never seen it explored before, we’re listening.

During a recent conversation with Gayety, the actor reflected on everything from queer representation and chosen family to becoming a TV dad, working with babies, and why Pride shouldn’t stop when June ends. But one topic kept coming up: a Shrinking storyline that asked a surprisingly complicated question about friendship, identity, and what happens after coming out.

For context, Urie stars alongside Jason Segel, Harrison Ford, Jessica Williams, and Christa Miller in the hit comedy-drama. The series follows therapist Jimmy Laird (Segel), who begins throwing professional boundaries out the window after the death of his wife, leading to equal parts emotional breakthroughs and total chaos.

Urie plays Brian, Jimmy’s longtime best friend, a successful lawyer whose role on the show has grown significantly since the series began. Over the years, viewers have watched Brian fall in love with Charlie, get married, navigate adoption, and become one of the series’ emotional centers.

The Question Brian Asked Jimmy

One of Urie’s favorite arcs from the series centered on Brian’s friendship with Jimmy and the complicated reality of maintaining relationships after coming out.

When Brian first met Jimmy in college, he wasn’t living as his authentic self.

“When Brian was in college, he was in the closet and really trying to prove to everybody that he was straight,” Urie explained. “And then he came out of the closet and his best friend from when he was straight remained his best friend.”

Years later, that history leads Brian to ask Jimmy something that’s equal parts heartbreaking and relatable.

“There was a really exciting storyline that we did on Shrinking where my character confronts Jason Segel’s character, Jimmy, and says, ‘If we met today, would we even be friends?’” Urie recalled. “When we met I was a different person.”

For many LGBTQ+ people, coming out isn’t the end of the story. It’s the beginning of figuring out who you are without the version of yourself you spent years presenting to the world.

“When we come out, whenever we finally come out and we’re not telling that lie anymore, we’re not wearing that mask anymore, we are reborn as our true selves,” Urie said. “And what happens to that friendship? That relationship sort of has to also be reborn in a way.”

The actor admitted he’d asked himself similar questions throughout his own life.

“I’ve wondered, would I be friends with this person if we met now?” he said.

That’s what made the storyline feel so unique.

“I thought, ‘Oh, this is really real,’” Urie recalled. “We’re tackling something that I don’t know if I’ve ever seen before. I’m not sure I ever saw that particular conflict between friends before.”

What makes Brian’s story especially refreshing is that his life isn’t defined by conflict. While the character has certainly faced challenges, he’s also surrounded by people who love and support him.

“What I really was excited about … is that his family, his found family is predominantly straight,” Urie said. “I get what it’s like to be the one queer person in a group of straight people and it can be great.”

From Chosen Family to Starting One

Brian’s adoption journey with Charlie became one of Shrinking‘s most emotional storylines, resonating far beyond the show’s audience.

“I’ve heard from people who watched the story of our adoption on Shrinking and were inspired to take the path we took as characters in their real lives,” Urie said. “It’s awesome when you hear back from people.”

Now, Season 4 is pushing Brian into an entirely new stage of life.

Thanks to a two-year time jump, Brian is no longer preparing for parenthood. He’s fully living it.

“I like this parenting thing,” Urie said. “I think it’s really interesting playing a parent now and in season four we’ve jumped two years. So I have a toddler on the show now and that’s really cool.”

Of course, having a toddler on screen comes with its own challenges.

Urie laughed while talking about working with babies and young children, admitting he was initially nervous before realizing they’re some of the most honest scene partners an actor could ask for.

“You can’t train a baby,” he joked. “It’s like a great truth teller.”

He added, “You kind of can’t lie when you’re holding a baby.”

It’s a very different version of Brian than the one viewers met in Season 1, but it’s also part of what Urie loves most about the character. He gets to keep growing.

The Evolution of Queer Storytelling

The conversation also touched on how much LGBTQ+ representation has changed during Urie’s career. Few actors have had a front-row seat quite like he has.

After helping make Marc St. James one of television’s most memorable gay characters on Ugly Betty, Urie later found himself leading what would become Netflix’s first gay rom-com, Single All the Way.

Even now, he’s surprised by how many milestones are still happening.

“That was the first gay rom-com Netflix ever did,” he said. “One of the first Christmas movies that was about queer people.”

The film, which also starred Luke Macfarlane and Philemon Chambers, was shot during the pandemic and reunited Urie with Macfarlane, his former Juilliard classmate.

But what he remembers most isn’t the production itself. It’s the fact that nobody in the movie cared that the main character was gay.

“Single All the Way was a completely homophobia-free film,” Urie said. “There was nothing about homophobia in it at all.”

Instead, the movie gave its lead character a much more familiar rom-com problem.

“His problem isn’t being gay,” Urie said. “His problem is falling in love.”

While he believes stories about discrimination remain important, Urie also thinks there’s value in showing queer joy.

“We could also show the way life could be and is and show the possibilities and show the love and the joy,” he said.