How Jonah Hill’s Therapist Phil Stutz Impacted the Storytelling in Apple TV+’s ‘Shrinking’
Jason Segel’s Shrinking doesn’t star Jonah Hill, but the Apple TV+ series loosely connects to the actor. Shrinking stars Segel as Jimmy Laird and follows his grief journey. Along the way, we meet Jimmy’s friends, family, and colleagues, including Harrison Ford’s Phil. Ford’s role in the Apple TV+ series directly correlates to Hill’s real-life therapist Phil Stutz.
Harrison Ford worked with Jonah Hill’s therapist Phil Stutz to create Paul
Phil is Jimmy’s mentor and colleague in Shrinking. The character is based on real-life therapist Stutz, who happens to be Hill’s therapist and the subject of his 2022 Netflix documentary Stutz.
“Harrison Ford … met with Phil Stutz, the therapist who inspired his character,” Shrinking production designer Cabot McMullen told Showbiz Cheat Sheet via email. Like the fictional Paul, Stutz Is diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, a progressive disorder that affects the nervous system.
“He was excited to share many valuable details drawn from Mr. Stutz’s real-life routines at work and some physical workarounds he devised to alleviate some of his Parkinson’s symptoms,” McMullen elaborated. With the insight Ford gathered from Stutz, McMullen created an office that made sense for someone with diagnosed Parkinson’s.
“We added a credenza and chair with sturdy arms that Paul could do push-ups on to loosen up his arms after a session,” McMullen described. “We also added artworks and drawings inspired by Mr. Stutz’s interest in Jungian philosophies.”
‘Shrinking’ and ‘Stutz’ share another connection
Stutz gives viewers a therapy session of their own. The Netflix documentary has been praised for offering viewers mental health tools they might not be able to access otherwise because of the cost of therapy or a lack of insurance.
In Shrinking, Paul serves as the same sort of lifeline to Jimmy’s daughter Alice (Lukita Maxwell), who is grieving the loss of her mother and trying to maintain a semblance of a normal teenage life while her father grieves in his own way. Like to the tools Stutz gives his patients, Paul advises Alice to allow herself 15 minutes a day to cry as hard as she wants — a practice he observes with his Parkinson’s.
Hill and Stutz share the same kind of communication style Paul and Alice do; one that’s often comical but always heartfelt. Whether or not this was a conscious choice on behalf of Shrinking‘s creators is unclear, but it sure feels intentional.
‘Stutz’ touches on the therapist’s Parkinson’s but his therapy practices are the focus
If you’re a fan of Ford’s Shrinking character, you can learn more about the man who inspired Paul in Stutz. Hill’s Netflix documentary looks at the events that impacted Stutz’s life most, including the death of his three-year-old brother when he was nine and his Parkinson’s diagnosis, all of which helped him forge his therapeutic principles. “I’m making this movie because I want to give therapy to as many people as possible,” Hill says in the film.
Watch Stutz on Netflix and stream new episodes of Shrinking on Apple TV+ every Friday.
