Jessica Williams on Shrinking, Millennial Tendencies, & Loving JC Chasez

For more than a decade, Jessica Williams has been stealing scenes and setting entertainment trends, whether she realizes it or not. She first made waves as the youngest ever correspondent on The Daily Show, then helped usher in the comedians-turned-podcasters era with the wildly successful 2 Dope Queens, which she cocreated and cohosted with Phoebe Robinson. In 2017, she became a Sundance Film Festival and Netflix standout with her feature-length film role in The Incredible Jessica James. But it’s her portrayal of Gaby, a warm-hearted, often hilarious, and deeply relatable therapist on Shrinking, that has earned her a whole new audience, as well as her first Emmy nomination—with another nod very much in play. For W’s TV portfolio, the 35-year-old got candid with Editor at Large Lynn Hirschberg about working with Harrison Ford, her favorite boy bander, and why reality TV matters.

How did Shrinking come into your life?

I had just purchased my first house as a millennial—rare in this economy—and was renovating it. I was focused on that and wasn’t thinking about work. I got a call from my team, and they were like, “Hey, so Bill Lawrence—who cocreated Ted Lasso and created Scrubs—Jason Segel, and Brett Goldstein want to meet with you. They have this part.” I met with them, and it was one of those meetings where I was like, damn! I wasn’t thirsty—I remember thinking, I handled that really well. It felt like growth! There’s an emotional balance on Shrinking—it’s a comedy, and then it’s really sad. Life is sad most of the time. Actually, the funniest moments I’ve had were in the hospital, at someone’s deathbed. It’s so sad that you’re like, wow, you just have to laugh.

Were you a theatrical child?

Yes. I wanted to be Aaliyah. I wanted to be Left Eye from TLC. Then I wanted to be on All That or Shelby Woo on The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, which was like a baby Murder, She Wrote. I also wanted to do this show called So Weird, which was like the baby X-Files. As a kid, I do remember words just flying out of my mouth faster than I could think. I was a theater dork, and I was on my high school improv team. We had this thing called Comedy Sports, and it's more like Whose Line Is It Anyway? It's very dorky, in retrospect, but it laid the groundwork for thinking fast on my feet. Theater in high school is like sports for dorks. It’s why we should fund the public school system. I’m totally the product of a really good art system. It changed my life.

Where did you grow up?

I'm from Torrance, the South Bay. It's a lot of people of color by the water. It's really diverse. We have a Mitsuwa Marketplace that I love. We've got bomb Mexican food, really great Japanese food. So when I think of how I grew up there, I see myself having a chicken soft taco at Del Taco with my friends. I think of In-N-Out Burger. I think of plazas and doughnut shops.

What was the first job you booked?

A Girl Scout cookie box. I don’t remember what type of cookies. I think they just needed photos, and they were going to decide later. But I was rock climbing. My parents treated acting like it was a valid medium. They weren't like, “You're going to be a surgeon.” They were like, “Oh, you want to do some make-them-ups? That's fine.” Then my first big job was a Nickelodeon soccer show Whoopi Goldberg executive produced called Just for Kicks. I was, like, 15 years old, and it got canceled after the first season. I was devastated.

When you were growing up, who did you have a crush on?

I can still see my blue plastic iMac computer with a sticker of Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez from *NSYNC. There is something about the *NSYNC guy that you chose that says a lot about you, mentally. Obviously, everybody is into Justin. But then JC could come in and he could sing. He was always reliable. JC was the one you could bring to the cookout, around your Black family. As I get older, I’m a JC girl, for sure.

Were you into Backstreet Boys too, or just *NSYNC?

No. I was very loyal. Obviously, I knew every Backstreet song, but I was more of an *NSYNC girl. That says a lot about the kind of millennial you are. *NSYNC had a Boyz II Men smoothness about them I enjoyed. My first concert was No Strings Attached, and I remember having an airbrushed Dickies jumpsuit. It probably said, like, “99% Angel Jess” or something like that.

Do you get starstruck? A lot of people would be starstruck working with Harrison Ford.

I don’t get starstruck by Harrison Ford anymore, although I do have these moments with him where it’s like watching a sunrise, like, “Oh, you are the movie star.” This is Blade Runner, this is Han Solo, this is Indiana Jones! He’s all of them.

When I saw Fran Drescher for the first time, I got really starstruck. Growing up, I used to watch The Nanny with my grandma nonstop, so I had an emotional reaction to her. It made me tear up. I also think if I ever met or saw Jack Black, I would lose my mind. I love that dude. He's so talented. I used to be obsessed with Tenacious D when I was a teenager. Everything about him is great.

Do you think you’re more like a cat or a dog?

Dog. I’m a chill dog. When I'm home, I like my space. It's bra off, Switch on. I'm playing Stardew Valley, I've got 90 Day Fiancé on the TV in the background, and I'm chilling. I like to be off the grid a lot. I think I have 1,200 unanswered texts.

Is 90 Day Fiancé your favorite reality show?

I have a lot of favorite reality shows. When I get older, I see myself teaching a UCLA Extension class about the history of reality TV. I think it’s important. It shows us something about ourselves, whether we want to look at it or not. Throughout the history of art, there's always been this conversation about high art and pop art, and what's art and what's not. Reality TV is a reflection of our society, and I really think it should be studied.

I love all the Real Housewives—The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Beverly Hills. Salt Lake is my current favorite. There's definitely some altitude sickness going on there, but also there's the weird, super religious Mormon part.

What’s your pet peeve?

My pet peeve is people talking over me. I hate when people try to belittle or make others feel small. I don't like coldness. I think it sucks ass, and it's lame. I don't like pickles on cheeseburgers. I hate aloofness that's forced. Just be nice. If I feel like someone's getting bullied or in a weird situation, I'm one to stick my head in it, for better or for worse, because I don't like bullying.

What is your astrological sign?

I am a Leo sun, Leo moon, Aries rising. That just means I got a lot of MI, aka mental illness, and I'm always close to a menty b, aka mental breakdown. I have all fire in my chart. And I'm always tired. People tell me all the time I'm a typical Leo. I feel like I'm a cliché.

Makeup by Rebecca Restrepo at Walter Schupfer Management.

Produced by AP Studio, Inc.; executive producer: Alexis Piqueras; producer: Anneliese Kristedja; production manager: Hayley Stephon; production coordinator: Kaitlyn Fitzpatrick; lighting technician: Eduardo SilvA; lab: picturehouse+thesmalldarkroom; retouching: picturehouse+thesmalldarkroom; fashion assistants: Tyler VanVranken, Amir La Sure, Celeste Roh, Lila Hathaway, Natalie Mell; production assistants: Linette Estrella, Ariana Kristedja, Sammi Kulger, an Carter, Cameron Bevans, Chase Walker, Rory Walsh; hair assistants: Courtney Peak, Austin Weber, Simone Domizi; makeup assistants: Mika Iwata, Anna Kurihara, Nana Hiramatsu; manicure assistant: ​​Rieko Smith; set assistants: Kevin Kessler, Cedar Kirwin, Paul Levine; tailor: Lindsay Amir Wright; tailor’s assistant: Natalie Wright.