While stepping into the comedy genre was uncharted and intimidating territory for the actress, she felt at ease playing a character like Alice. “I am not too far removed from being an angsty teenager. I’m still young and coming out of that,” she says. When we first meet Alice, she comes off as independent and mature beyond her years, but slowly, the cracks of her hardened surface reveal a young woman who is still struggling with the loss of her mother and is desperate for her father’s attention and unwavering love. As a result, Alice has had to grow up quickly and be her own support system in life, something that was relatable to Maxwell. “I think that I personally have a hard time reaching out for help when I need it,” she reveals. “Even when I know I need it, I’m stubborn about it, and I am desperate to figure it out myself.”
She may be reluctant to ask for outside help, but Maxwell is not above taking cues from those around her. With Shrinking, she was afforded an invaluable opportunity to learn from a fantastic ensemble cast, particularly Ford. According to Maxwell, the actor isn’t the type to walk around set doling out advice, but just getting to watch him work and seeing how focused and alive he is in scenes was a master class in itself. “He’s so excited to be there on set every day, and every time we had a scene, it was just a lesson of having a legend being my scene partner who is opening up so much space emotionally for me as an actor. I felt like I could really play in scenes with Harrison,” she says. Maxwell swears she played it cool around Ford, taking extra care not to geek out and ask a bunch of questions, but she admits they did bond over eating lots of snacks together—mostly frozen yogurt and pretzels—which were a staple part of their park-bench scenes.
