How 'Shrinking' helped Jessica Williams work through a 'traumatic' time in her life

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Set us as preferred Jessica Williams always goes to bed laughing.“Everything’s so sad,” the actor explains.“Not taking yourself seriously is the only way, because otherwise I would just be upset, especially as a Black woman in the year 2026.

I hate when people are on ‘The Bachelor’ and they’re like, ‘I love laughing,’ but it’s true.I really love it.”Williams, 37, knows a thing or two about making others laugh.

A three-time Emmy nominee for supporting actress in a comedy series for her work on “Shrinking,” she’s made an art of it.On a show about grief and mental health, Williams is often on hand to bring the funny.Curled up in a chair on the top floor of The Times’ offices in El Segundo, looking down on the runways of LAX boiling in the late July sun, Williams gives runway fierceness against the beige office walls.

She is just like the pop of bubblegum pink polish on her toenails as she strikes a pose in a chic all-black linen ensemble — a delightful burst of cheer in a subdued environment, something effervescent amid so much inoffensive sameness.She’s always been that way.I would know; I’ve known her since we were 12 years old, awkward adolescents in Marcia Barryte’s Dodson Middle School drama class.

As we catch up, I remind her of a PG-13 scene she caused in eighth grade science class during an earthquake drill.(To be fair, the drama students were asked to play standardized patients, and she was assigned “hysteria.”) While the class collected our backpacks, she broke into an award-worthy performance, wailing about not wanting to die a virgin.“No!” she gasps, covering her mouth but unable to hide the mischievous grin that’s broken across her face at the memory.

“That’s very inappropriate.I love that.”Under slightly different circumstances, it’s a storyline that could...