Michael J Fox will guest star in Apple TV’s hit comedy Shrinking, and Harrison Ford has now praised the actor for his “significant representation of human vigor”.
Speaking to HELLO!, Harrison said of the opportunity to work alongside the Back to the Future star: “It was an extraordinary experience – an extraordinary human experience – and a wonderful acting experience as well, but to have such a significant representation of human vigor and human capacity?”
Shrinking follows a grieving therapist (Jason Segal) who decides that he is going to start telling his clients exactly what he thinks of them, to varying levels of success.
The synopsis reads: “Ignoring his training and ethics, he finds himself making huge, tumultuous changes to people’s lives … including his own.”
Harrison’s character Dr Paul Rhoades is diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease and hides it in the first season from his colleagues and family.
Season two sees Paul begin to come to terms with the diagnosis, and in season three Michael – who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s over 30 years ago – will guest star for an arc.
It marks Michael’s first acting role since 2020.
Harrison, who was joined by his Shrinking castmates at the Television Academy’s inaugural Televerse Festival, continued: “The man is extraordinary, indomitable, and faces the challenges of this disease with such incredible capacity, it’s a life lesson.”
“The acting thing was a bonus,” he said.”But the experience itself was really such a treat and such an important experience. I really appreciate him doing it for us.”
The show’s creator, Bill Lawrence, had previously revealed that Michael, whom he worked with in Spin City, was a major inspiration for Shrinking.
“I found the first mentor in my life and career, Michael J. Fox, to be so inspiring with the way he took it in stride and continues to work harder than anybody I know,” he told People. “And we want to kind of carry that spirit if we can into the show.”
© Getty ImagesMichael was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991 when he was 29-years-old.
He has become a fierce advocate for those living with the disease and has raised over $2 billion in funds for research.
© Getty ImagesThe 63-year-old’s latest memoir, Future Boy: Back to the Future and My Journey Through the Space-Time Continuum, was co-written by Nelle Fortenberry and will be released in October.
The highly anticipated book will cover his time filming Back to the Future and the hit TV series Family Ties simultaneously, during which time he would work on the former at night and the latter during the day. He will delve into what it was really like to film both projects at the same time, six years before he received a diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease brought his career to a halt.
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