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“It’s the only way to say it,” he explains.

When it’s not so well-written, good luck. Appearing in a number of television shows and plays over the years, Urie developed a system that seems to work. Although scripts are now emailed to actors, “I need the paper. I just can’t look at a script on a computer screen or my phone. So, I get a paper copy of it, read it cover to cover and then I break up the beats, mark the scenes and highlight the lines and I read it over and over and over and over again. Unless it’s extremely dense, it’s usually pretty simple to get it in my brain.”

Working with "Shrinking" lead Jason Segel, Urie says, was a real lesson in television acting. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a script in his hand. He’s the most prepared actor I’ve ever worked with, and it really conditioned me to try to be as prepared and not have the crutch of the script anywhere on set.”

Since the two play best friends, there’s a lot of quick dialogue. Having a script doesn’t foster an intuitive acting style. But if he has the lines in his head, Urie can “follow impulses in the moment. These are like the greatest actors. You look them in the eye, and they give you everything you need.”

Learning from Ford

Harrison Ford, who also stars in “Shrinking,” taught him about camera placement.

“I’m from the theater and I’m just cheating to wherever I think people are watching,” Urie says. “But he is innately aware of the camera.” Ford also cares about moments where he might not be a scene’s focus. “He gives every scene the same amount of respect, whether it’s one line walking through 10 people or it’s a breakdown scene.”

Contrary to outsiders’ beliefs, Ford is not a cranky man. “It’s an act,” Urie says. “He loves crew people and actors, and he really loves to work. I asked him once if he ever wanted to do a play and he said, ‘Not really,’ because he doesn’t like repeating himself. I totally get that mentality.”

Still, Urie regularly acts on Broadway. His most recent show, “Once Upon a Mattress,” brought raves and a chance to test his new-found knowledge.

“I’m in a 2,000-seat theater and that is very different than working with a camera. The difference is less about the medium and more about the piece. When it comes to something like a musical or a play, it becomes more about, ‘Who is this character and how does he interact in the world? Are his feet on the ground or are they six inches above the ground?’ When it comes to ‘Shrinking,’ which wants to live in the real world, the approach is about behaving like a human.”

Making it work

A play is like a team sport – you’re supporting others on the stage. In a TV show, “you’re a cog in a wheel and you have your part. Later on when you see it, you think, ‘My gosh, that’s what they did with that.’”

Jessica Chastain, who was in the same class at Juilliard, told Urie she worked with Al Pacino on a film and she was always trying to ignore the camera. “And he said, ‘No, you have to include the camera.’ Harrison does that for sure. When I’m stage, I include the audience. I think it’s same thing. It just has to do with where they are.”

While Urie, a co-star on “Ugly Betty,” has gotten raves for playing an attorney on “Shrinking,” he realizes it needs to serve a lot of different characters over the course of a season.

“Every script is like Christmas morning – ‘What’s happened this time? And who do I get to play with?’”

Repeatedly, those writers deliver and give Urie the goods he needs to stand out – even if he’s not the focus of every episode.

Therapy helps

To better understand the series – and himself – the 44-year-old sought out a therapist.

“She had some interesting thoughts,” Urie says, and she helped him get in touch with his own mental health.

“I had some imposter syndrome, in part because I didn’t know anybody when we started and I was working with such heavies doing this really adult show. That was getting in my head a little bit and I thought, ‘Am I worthy? Do I belong?’ They were just being themselves but that was intimidating, and I thought (therapy) would be helpful.”

Now that he has taken that step, Urie sees the cast and crew of “Shrinking” as another family. “They’re chosen families – they’re not conceived. They’re formed.”

And, likely, they know their lines before they come to the set.