\u201cI have no social media so I\u2019ll hear about the noise. I know that the Marvel fans are so fabulous and so passionate,\u201d she says, before adding that she wasn\u2019t recognised much in public either, with most of the world being in lockdown at the time. \u201cI walk around in sweatpants so like, you know, I\u2019m not in a flowing purple robe. Nobody knows who I am, which is kind of amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, when she\u2019s not wearing a mask, Kathryn Hahn is one of the most recognisable actors in Hollywood. After landing a regular role in NBC crime drama Crossing Jordan back in 2001, Hahn went onto steal the show as Kate Hudson\u2019s weepy best friend in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Adam Scott\u2019s hilariously frustrated wife in Step Brothers and an over-excitable suburban mum in We\u2019re the Millers.<\/p>\n
Between flexing her comedy muscles in shows like Parks and Recreation, Central Park and Mrs. Fletcher, and embracing dramatic roles in heavy-hitting titles Transparent and Revolutionary Road, Hahn\u2019s resume is an extensive list of high-profile projects and it\u2019s about to get even longer thanks to her upcoming roles in Knives Out 2<\/a> and Marvel spin-off Agatha: House of Harkness<\/a>.<\/p>\n Despite her unsurprisingly busy schedule, Hahn has found some time to chat about her latest series, Apple TV Plus<\/a> drama The Shrink Next Door<\/a>, taking a break from her post-Thanksgiving workout to pick up the phone. Unfortunately, I\u2019m sniffling away on the other end, suffering with a heavy cold and sounding like High Wycombe\u2019s answer to Marge Simpson. If anyone were to be Vitamin C in human form though, it would be the incredibly bubbly Hahn, who prescribes \u201csteam showers and eucalyptus\u201d before we move onto her role in the eight-part series, which premiered back in November and is currently halfway through its run.<\/p>\n While you\u2019d be forgiven for expecting The Shrink Next Door to be a laugh-a-minute riot with Hahn starring alongside comedy titans Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd, the psychological drama is unsettlingly dark \u2013 especially when you learn it\u2019s based on real events.<\/p>\n Adapted from Joe Nocera\u2019s factual podcast of the same name, the black comedy stars Ferrell as Marty Markowitz, an anxious single man who becomes a patient of Dr Isaac \u2018Ike\u2019 Herschkopf (Rudd) after struggling with the loss of his elderly parents and the inheritance of the family business. While Dr Ike\u2019s methods seem slightly unorthodox at first, he manages to slowly implant himself into Marty\u2019s life and alienate him from his only remaining family, his sister Phyllis (Hahn), before taking $3.2 million (\u00a32.4m) from him over the course of 27 years.<\/p>\n Hahn stars as Marty\u2019s protective sister Phyllis, a mother of two in the midst of a divorce who suspects Ike may be taking advantage of her brother early on in the series. \u201cI had heard the podcast before I even knew it was going to be made into a series,\u201d she says. \u201cI think like so many people, my jaw was on the ground. That is such a sacred relationship \u2013 you give someone so much of yourself and there\u2019s so much faith and trust.\u201d<\/p>\n While in this real-life instance, which lasted from 1982 until Markowitz cut Herschkopf off in 2010, the psychiatrist severely abused his power and crossed several professional boundaries, Hahn stresses that she\u2019s a huge proponent of therapy.<\/p>\n \u201cTherapy is amazing,\u201d she says. \u201cI think it\u2019s such an invaluable part of being a human being. Growing up in Ohio, in Cleveland, that was something that was just not regularly offered to us as an option, to talk about feelings.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the idea of that relationship taking a turn, even though he happened in our version of this story to be a very successful doctor to many, many people, he just saw something in Marty that was easy to take advantage of.\u201d<\/p>\n Hahn was drawn to the role of Phyllis after finding herself in a similar position with a dear friend. \u201cOur friendship has dissolved over \u2013 of course everything is subjective and who knows, but in my mind \u2013 what seems to be a relationship with somebody else that I just couldn\u2019t quite get along with.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt that very deeply, that sense of loss and longing. This person was like a sibling to me and so I could really connect on a personal level to Phyllis\u2019s pain, and just the unbelievable amount of frustration and anger, just like a child doing whatever they could to get his attention.\u201d<\/p>\n Hahn was able to get in touch with the real-life Phyllis before filming began, speaking to her over Zoom and hearing her side of the story. \u201cBy the time I met her at the actual premiere, we basically leapt over theatre seats to get to each other to hug each other. We were so excited to be in the same room.<\/p>\n While the actual Phyllis and her brother were estranged for decades after Herschkopf convinced him to stop all communication with her, they managed to reconcile in the 2010s after Markowitz reported the therapist to the New York State Department. \u201cI really have such admiration for her openness of heart after all that time on the idea of forgiveness. On the idea of not living a life of resentment or bitterness or anger. She found her own life during all those years and her own family and yet was still able to let him in, which is pretty remarkable.\u201d<\/p>\n The Shrink Next Door certainly isn\u2019t the first project in which Hahn has worked with Rudd and Ferrell, with the trio all appearing in Anchorman while sharing various credits such as Our Idiot Brother and Step Brothers. However, Hahn got to see a whole new side of her co-stars in the drama.<\/p>\n \u201cI think they\u2019re both such extraordinary actors,\u201d she gushes, revealing that she hadn\u2019t previously \u201cconnected on this level\u201d with Ferrell before The Shrink Next Door.<\/p>\n \u201cIn his movies, I was always kind of bit parts or smaller, supporting [roles] and to be able to connect with him on this level in this role, I\u2019ll just hold to my heart so dearly,\u201d she says. \u201cHe was really available. It was pretty serious business. Some of those scenes were really \u2013 in the best way \u2013 difficult for us, especially when it got to the fighting because we have such a fondness for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n As for Rudd, Hahn describes one particular moment in which Phyllis goes to Ike\u2019s office to confront him about the hold he has over her brother, and finds herself opening up to him as well.\u00a0\u201cPaul and I had one delicious scene that was like a short film. We got to go through all the levels together and we have done so many other things together but this was just a whole different burden. It made me want to act with him so much more.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s a possibility Hahn won\u2019t have to wait too much longer for that to happen, with both her and Rudd now firm members of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The age-defying Rudd joined the global superhero franchise as Ant-Man back in 2015 and has since appeared in three Marvel films, with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania on its way. Meanwhile, last month, Marvel confirmed that Hahn would be starring in a stand-alone spin-off series titled House of Harkness \u2013 although there\u2019s not a huge amount she\u2019s allowed to say about the upcoming series.<\/p>\n \u201cI have to tell you, even hearing the name of the show was a surprise to me and I love it so much,\u201d she says. \u201cThey keep it really close. I\u2019m very excited to meet with [the producers] and hear what they\u2019re cooking up because I know it\u2019s going to be fabulous.\u201d<\/p>\n News of the spin-off came as a complete surprise to Hahn, who admits she had never heard of Agatha Harkness before working on WandaVision. \u201cYou\u2019d have to be deep-diving Stan Lee, comic book aficionado to know Agatha Harkness from the comics. I had never heard of her before. So the fact that this is happening is just a testament to the incredible writing, the weird timing.<\/p>\n \u201cI just remember staring at the icon that said Agatha: House of Harkness and just giggling to myself because it\u2019s so bananas. It\u2019s so meta that WandaVision was a show about sitcoms and of course, it\u2019s going to have a spin-off. It just makes total sense in a very meta way.\u201d<\/p>\n While she hasn\u2019t had many fans singing the ear worm that is Agatha All Along back to her due to the pandemic, the Marvel star says that she did receive a birthday book made of letters from fans. \u201cSomeone had sent through my beautiful hairstylist a book of thank you letters from all these fans because that\u2019s the way to communicate with me as I have no social media and it meant so much to me.<\/p>\n \u201cI burst into tears when I was reading it. I\u2019ll hold onto it for the rest of my life. It was so tender.\u201d<\/p>\n With Hahn taking the Marvel Cinematic Universe by storm, perhaps it\u2019s time for her Shrink Next Door co-star Ferrell to become the last of the trio to become a superhero? \u201cOh my God!\u201d she keenly answers. \u201cI think they would be lucky to have him. He\u2019s so fabulous in anything he does.\u201d<\/p>\n By Lauren Morris Published: Saturday, 04 December 2021 at 12:00 am When Kathryn Hahn made her Marvel debut in January this year, flying onto our screens in the high-concept superhero series WandaVision, viewers immediately gravitated towards her portrayal of nosy-neighbour-turned-powerful-villain Agatha Harkness. Her Grammy-nominated theme song, Agatha All Along, shot to the top of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":8229,"template":"","categories":[5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/kathryn-hahn-on-getting-serious-with-paul-rudd-and-will-ferrell-in-the-shrink-next-door.jpg",620,413,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/kathryn-hahn-on-getting-serious-with-paul-rudd-and-will-ferrell-in-the-shrink-next-door-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/kathryn-hahn-on-getting-serious-with-paul-rudd-and-will-ferrell-in-the-shrink-next-door-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/kathryn-hahn-on-getting-serious-with-paul-rudd-and-will-ferrell-in-the-shrink-next-door.jpg",620,413,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/kathryn-hahn-on-getting-serious-with-paul-rudd-and-will-ferrell-in-the-shrink-next-door.jpg",620,413,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/kathryn-hahn-on-getting-serious-with-paul-rudd-and-will-ferrell-in-the-shrink-next-door.jpg",620,413,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/12\/kathryn-hahn-on-getting-serious-with-paul-rudd-and-will-ferrell-in-the-shrink-next-door.jpg",620,413,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Lauren Morris Published: Saturday, 04 December 2021 at 12:00 am When Kathryn Hahn made her Marvel debut in January this year, flying onto our screens in the high-concept superhero series WandaVision, viewers immediately gravitated towards her portrayal of nosy-neighbour-turned-powerful-villain Agatha Harkness. 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