Candice Bergen joins the Apple TV series as Christa Miller's mother-in-law in episode 7
Credit: Apple TV+
Warning: Spoilers for Shrinking season 3, episode 7, which debuted Wednesday, March 11, on Apple TV.
NEED TO KNOW
- Candice Bergen guest stars in Shrinking season 3, sparking memorable onscreen clashes with Christa Miller’s Liz
- Miller calls working with Bergen “delicious,” praising their fiery scenes and Bergen’s legendary presence on set
- The actress also enjoys playing brash scenes with Harrison Ford, relishing the chance to “poke the bear” in character
Shrinking season 3 has no shortage of legendary guest stars, with both Michael J. Fox and Jeff Daniels making notable appearances in previous episodes. Joining their ranks is Candice Bergen, who makes her debut in episode 7 as Constance.
For Christa Miller, who has had a standout season as Liz, it was particularly delightful having the Murphy Brown star, 79, on set. "When [co-creator] Bill Lawrence first brought Candice's name up, I was like, 'Oh my God, I'll die if that happens,' " she tells PEOPLE.
"It was fantastic because I knew Candice from when I was shooting Drew Carey, Murphy Brown was going on," the actress, 61, says, referring to when she was a star on The Drew Carey Show, which overlapped with Bergen's show for a few seasons in the mid-1990s. "We had a mutual friend. Candice Bergen, you know, she's a classic."
Following Derek's (Ted McGinley) wild stoner moment in episode 4, which led to his hospitalization and subsequent health scare involving his heart in episodes 5 and 6, Constance comes to town to help look after her son — much to the chagrin of Derek's wife, Liz.
"We've teased before that she doesn't even let her mother-in-law come within a hundred yards of the house," Miller says of the show's prior mentions of Constance before she appears.
Credit: Apple TV+
Then, after witnessing some of their icy interactions, Gaby (Jessica Williams) gets the lowdown on the wife and mother-in-law's history of going "at each other constantly."
According to Liz, Constance (or "Connie," as she introduces herself to others who are not Liz) "was always criticizing my parenting," which eventually led her to call the woman "C—stance."
Later, after Constance steps in with some parenting advice for Liz and Derek's son, Matthew (Markus Silbiger), who has been struggling to get back on his feet, the two finally have it out. When Liz confronts her about crossing a line, Constance admits to having "only said fake nice stuff" to her before ending the conversation with a dig at her name, "Elizab—h."
Looking back on filming those scenes in which Liz and Constance were going at it, Miller says, "It was so good. It was so delicious."
"When I'm with her, I mind my P's and Q's, and then, I got to go and be just terrible and toe to toe and be awful," the actress says of getting into character on set. "I mean, afterwards I was like, 'Was that okay?' But she brought it. I mean, it was really fun, those scenes with her crackled. It was the most fun."
Credit: Apple TV
As for McGinley, 67, the actor says, "To have her play Mom, I thought it was a great match. I thought it was great casting." He adds, "Then, to watch Liz and my mom spar, it was off the charts. It was so good."
With Bergen, "you just wanna sit next to her all the time. … She's just such an accepting, cool, interesting person," the actor adds.
Echoing that sentiment, Williams, 36, was "just thrilled" to be in the same room as "C-Berg, a.k.a. Candice Bergen, a.k.a. the original pageant winner of Miss Congeniality." She adds, "It was a joy watching that relationship between Liz and Ted's mom. It was really, really funny and I'm really happy I got to be in that scene."
Of course, it's not the first time Miller has gotten to go toe to toe with a screen legend. All series long, especially in season 3, she's gotten to poke and prod costar Harrison Ford, who plays Dr. Paul Rhoades, a senior therapist with Parkinson's disease.
Credit: Apple TV+
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During the premiere, in particular, Liz was one of several friends who were responsible for winding up Paul as he prepared to get married to neurologist Dr. Julie Baram (Wendie Malick). Reflecting on moments like that, Miller says, "It's always my favorite thing to do."
"I'm so different than Liz. But Liz on this show, she seems to be the only one that's not scared of Harrison. I mean, she just wants to poke the bear with him. So when I get a script where I'm doing that, it feels delightful," the Scrubs star adds.
When on set, Miller says, she "gives it my all," explaining that she relishes in those opportunities to be brash with Ford, 83, and Bergen "because it's so unlike me. I just go, oh my God, I have this opportunity to — because I have a lot of restraint of pen and tongue in my life — be able to just be terrible with either of them, not scared of them."
New episodes of Shrinking season 3 debut Wednesdays on Apple TV until April 8.
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