Will Ferrell Spills the Beans on 'The Shrink Next Door'

Will Ferrell's latest comedy project is set to hit our screens in just a matter of days. But The Shrink Next Door promises a darker tale than some of the actor's other LOL-worthy performances. Here's what Will and his co-star Paul Rudd had to say about the highly-anticipated series.

First of all, in case anyone had any doubt, Mr. Ferrell is just as fantastic as we think he is. "Anybody would love to work with Will. And there's a reason why he's America's sweetheart," Rudd gushed to PEOPLE (the TV Show!) host Kay Adams. The Hollywood icons previously worked together on 2004's Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and its sequel that premiered nearly a decade later.

And the two have now reunited for The Shrink Next Door. Will stars as Martin "Marty" Markowitz, a patient of Dr. Isaac "Ike" Herschkopf, played by Rudd. "The biggest takeaway for me was just how great an actor Paul is," Ferrell told PEOPLE. "To get to kind of thread the needle between this character who is, at first, very loving and sincere as a therapist, who's really helping Marty stand up for himself and become a stronger person."

The 54-year-old continued, "And then to slowly peel that away and realize that he's got ulterior motives that are less than honorable, that's a hard performance to give. And he does it masterfully." We feel hooked on the series already.

And while Paul's character might be dark and slightly evil, it wasn't so black-and-white for the actor portraying Dr. Herschkopf. "I didn't really look at him as villainous, even though I think most people probably will," Rudd explained. "To me, I'm playing a person who is complex and nuanced and has his own struggles and is trying to navigate all of this."

The duo also revealed that they'd met with the real-life Marty in preparation for their roles. "We kind of asked, 'Why aren't you more ashamed about that? Why are you willing to share your story?'" Ferrell divulged. "And he just thought, 'You know what? This is therapeutic for people to learn about what I went through, and hopefully, prevent anyone from experiencing the same thing.'"

The Shrink Next Door premieres on November 12th on Apple TV+.