Luke Tennie is having a fantastic year.
The Shrinking star, who was recently nominated for an Indie Spirit Award for Best Newcomer, has found himself at the forefront of two major projects. The Apple TV+ series Shrinking is thriving in its second season, and Tennie also delivers a powerful and nuanced performance as Griff in RaMell Ross’ cinematic adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Nickel Boys.
Created by Ted Lasso’s Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein, along with Jason Segel, Shrinking follows Segel’s character, Jimmy, a therapist grappling with grief who begins to take unconventional—and often disruptive—approaches in his sessions. Tennie plays Sean, a war veteran battling PTSD, who becomes Jimmy’s patient and eventually his housemate. In Season 2, Sean’s journey takes a new direction when Jimmy’s boss, Paul (Harrison Ford), steps in to take over his therapy.
Tennie’s portrayal of Sean is both heart-wrenching and deeply human, especially as his unresolved trauma surfaces in some of the series’ most emotionally charged moments. One particularly powerful scene shows Jimmy helping Sean through a PTSD episode, a tender yet tense moment that showcases Tennie’s ability to balance vulnerability with strength.
“Everyone had an extra hat on.. and you would think that would divide their attention, but I felt so safe. I also felt challenged,” explains Tennie. “It was the perfect dichotomy of fear and fortitude that allowed for them to get this exactly balanced performance out of me that really represented what Sean was going through.”
In addition to his work on Shrinking, Tennie also stars in the critically acclaimed Nickel Boys, an AFI Movie of the Year. Based on Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, the film follows Elwood Curtis, a young man sentenced to the brutal Nickel Academy reformatory. Tennie plays Griff, a student boxer with a harsh exterior whose fate underscores the dehumanizing violence that pervades the institution.
“With Nickle Boys, it was about the consequences of introducing violence in this way and celebrating it despite knowing the violence,” adds Tennie. “A lot of these students had gone through this fight and the blows in the ring pale in comparison to what some of these students had to undergo in the backhouse.”
Luke Tennie spoke with Awards Focus about sharing more scenes with Harrison Ford, what’s ahead for the final two episodes of Shrinking, working with RaMell Ross on Nickle Boys, and why he’s happy not to have “iPhone face.”
Awards Focus: You were nominated for an Indie Spirit Award at the beginning of this year. What was that experience like for you?
Luke Tennie: It was a win for me to be nominated. Nobody knows who I am, really. Shrinking is really the first time my name is getting out and about.
I remember my sister sending me the announcement, and it was read by a couple of people who were fans, and she was like, just the fact that your name is in people’s mouths is exciting. For the rest of my life, I can say I lost to Nick Offerman, and that’s one of the coolest sentences anyone in the history of cinema could ever say [laughs].
AF: What was it like coming back to set for season two compared to when you first started on the show in season one?
Tennie: This was my first second season ever. I’ve had guest spots, but it’s really different when you’re there every week. What’s wild is that it didn’t take long to get warm. It felt like the first week we kind of all locked in, and it was very exciting. At the same time, we got season two because of what worked, and I think the chemistry is a main ingredient in Shrinking.
So, getting to play a little further with mixing and matching all the different fun character combinations was great. That’s a Bill Lawrence show. He’ll have odd couples and odd trios, and every chance we get to play with people we don’t get to do scenes with as much is always exhilarating.
AF: This season, Sean no longer has therapy sessions with Jimmy and instead gains Paul as his therapist. What was it like sharing those scenes with Harrison Ford and how Sean is caught between Paul and Jimmy?
Tennie: I remember reading episode one of this season and hearing Harrison’s voice welcome me to the “Major Leagues.” Jason Siegel is also one of the coolest people. He plays around like a goofball, and he’s always got some story. There’s only one person who can really overshadow that to any degree,e and it’s freaking Harrison Ford.
It’s great being able to play with these people who are so cool, calm, collected, and experienced. Harrison comes from film, and it’s not like we’re doing these short breaks and retakes. He works like a stage performer would, which I resonate with because I come from stage training. It was so exciting to have that switch but I did miss all my therapy scenes being with Jason as well because we have so much fun together.
AF: There are some scenes where Sean is truly vulnerable with Jimmy, like when he’s triggered in the fourth episode, and Jimmy helps Sean calm himself and sit down in a chair. What was that like to explore with Jason and for yourself as an actor?
Tennie: There is no other scene partner, I think, who could have gotten that out of me. What happened in that room I’m proud of Bill [Lawrence] and [director] Zach Braff for articulating so well what they wanted for the scene because I’m an actor and I’m working with another actor, but everyone else in that room has a more controlling interest in the story.
Everyone, including Jason, had an extra hat on, except for me. You would think that wearing all these different hats would divide their attention, but I felt so safe. I also felt challenged. I was confident but also nervous. The perfect dichotomy of fear and fortitude allowed them to get this balanced performance out of me that really represented what Sean was going through.
I’ve heard that some people who have served in the military appreciated that scene, which I think is another testament to the writers. I just want to shout them out because they’re insane with their detail and research and with their laughs and tears.
AF: With the laughs, there’s a scene where Sean is in the hospital heavily medicated after getting beat up, and the core cast is all in the room as Sean says some harsh truths. What was that day like on set with everyone and playing this looser and loopier side of Sean?
Tennie: I love my job, and that day was insane. We all just hung out, and what I really liked about the way it worked in the schedule was that sometimes, you’ll get a script, and you’ll have a heavy work week right after the episode you’re finishing. For me, it was the opposite. All that stuff was towards the very end of the episode, so every day, I was doing prep for the next day and for that one scene. I was so prepared that we could relax and hang out, and I didn’t have to worry about going off to the corner and getting my lines. I knew them all. So it was fun and a great memory, especially for an up-and-comer like me.
AF: There are two episodes left in the season. What can you reveal about what’s coming up?
Tennie: What I think about Sean is that he’s sort of the example of what therapy looks like in the show and he’s the client we see most of. We track his business every episode to track progress and regression. What we can look forward to is seeing that when you get familiar with what it’s like to take those steps back, the backward steps become smaller, and the forward steps become larger.
So, even though it might hurt to see Sean regress what we might see in the future, it’s not going to be as severe as his self-harming and instigating violence with a bunch of construction workers.
AF: Now, I want to discuss Nickle Boys and your performance as Griff. What was it like reading the script, and how familiar were you with Colson Whitehead’s novel?
Tennie: The script came in, and I didn’t know about the school, so I was immediately angry. I’m from South Florida. How could I not know about this school that was around for almost a century in my state?
I found out when it closed. I was in high school. I could’ve gone to that school. You’ve seen the movie; it doesn’t matter how great an individual you might have been or how much promise you had in your career. You could’ve ended up at that academy, and I felt inspired and heartbroken. I put together the best self-tape I could, and it seemed like they were looking for people who didn’t have iPhone faces.
AF: What’s iPhone face?
Tennie: It’s an interesting expression, but like newer humans seem to look new. So, when sometimes newer people play period pieces, people don’t buy it. This person looks contemporary and like they know what an iPhone is.
For some reason, the director [RaMell Ross] looked at me and could see me as this guy in this period. This made me feel like I belonged, like the passion I had to be a part of this project wasn’t just mine, and that RaMell was excited to have me on board.
AF: What conversations did you have with RaMell about filming in that first-person POV style? Were you just looking at the camera, or were Ethan Herisse or Brandon Wilson standing behind it, too?
Tennie: I suppose RaMell and his wonderful team just had faith because I came to work, and he didn’t really mess with what I showed up with. He would see what I brought and then push that in different directions. It was something I wasn’t really used to coming off my short stint on CSI and then Shrinking, which is truly collaborative.
On Nickle Boys, we started with our impulse, and after a while, it became an eye that was attached to this performer. The only thing that I feel kind of bitter about is that the audience was robbed of what fed me as I was performing. No one got to see the brilliant work from Ethan and Brandon, but that’s a risk RaMell was willing to take to immerse the audience in an inescapable point of view that forces us into the minds and hearts of Elwood and Turner. It was really moving.
AF: The boxing scene has so much tension and a significant moment for Elwood in understanding the brutality of Nickle Academy. What was that day like on set, and was it filmed in one take or in various parts?
Tennie: That was probably one of the biggest days of any sort of filming I’d ever done. We had all these background performers who were so committed to contributing to the story, and I didn’t know how we were going to shoot it.
But then I got there, and the only thing that I knew was that I wanted to give them something to react to. I was sparring with a wonderful person, and we had decided to give them a show so they didn’t have to act. We did it as many times as we needed to and did a bunch of set-ups, too. It was a full 12-hour day on set, just boxing and sparring until the camera finally turned to us.
AF: It was interesting to see you play another character doing boxing. Was that a strange convergence of these young men trying to survive in the world?
Tennie: I think I’ve accepted the idea that based on whatever it is about my toolset, I tend to get cast in roles where characters are dealing with violence. I’ve always loved action, and I can’t wait to dip my toe into that pond.
With Nickle Boys, it wasn’t really about the action as much. It was about the consequences of introducing violence in this way and celebrating it despite knowing the violence. A lot of these students had gone through this fight and the blows in the ring pale in comparison to what some of these students had to undergo in the backhouse.
So, it’s like a small percentage of the violence they’ve been introduced to. Here’s where they get to cheer, chant, pump up, scream, be supportive, and believe in something. I think that’s what leads Griff down this path to do what he does in that fight, despite what he’s been receiving from Hamish’s character, ‘Spencer.’
The whole day just further solidified that I might have a career where I get to do this kind of thing, and hoping that I do it well.