- - How Harrison Ford Brought Michael J. Fox 'to Tears' on the “Shrinking” Set

Julia MooreJanuary 29, 2026 at 12:46 AM

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Michael J. Fox (left) and Harrison Ford on 'Shrinking'

Robert Voets/Apple TV

Michael J. Fox joins Shrinking season 3 as a guest star

Fox, 64, who has Parkinson's disease, worked with Harrison Ford, who plays a character with Parkinson's

Ford had to "convince" Fox with his performance on set

The Shrinking set was an emotional one when Harrison Ford and Michael J. Fox were working together.

Fox joins season 3 of the Apple TV series and stars alongside Ford's Dr. Paul Rhoades, who has Parkinson's in the show. Fox, 64, has Parkinson's in real life, and applauded his costar as a "brilliant actor" for his depiction of the disease.

“That’s one thing that’s amazing about Harrison," Fox told Vanity Fair. "I don’t have to convince him I have Parkinson’s, but he had to convince me he had Parkinson’s. What I wasn’t prepared for was how much of his own understanding of the disease he brought to it."

"I mean, I recognized Parkinson’s in his eyes," Fox said of Ford, 83. "The things I was feeling, I recognized in the way he was expressing himself."

Ford's performance was so powerful that Fox admitted, "I was just brought to tears by it."

Harrison Ford on 'Shrinking'

Beth Dubber/Apple TV+

The praise from Fox was, in Ford's words, consistent with who the iconic actor is "in a nutshell."

He described the Back to the Future star as "generous, supportive, open, just a wonderful person" and a "pretty godd--- good actor too."

"It’s a daunting disease and also a daunting job to represent it in an appropriate way. It was a very important experience for me to have," Ford told the outlet of his role on Shrinking.

He added of Fox, "Michael is an extraordinarily powerful person."

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Before the actors teamed up on season 3, Ford told PEOPLE he didn't know Fox "very well," though they'd met a few times before.

“His willingness to be part of our show is a great source of inspiration and gives us a real purpose,” Ford said. “It's not just us coming together, two actors. There's a story to tell, and our commitment to the story is what joins us together. I appreciate his willingness to be a part of the show.”

Michael J. Fox in "Shrinking" season 3

Apple TV

“I've done what I could to acquaint myself with the aspects of the disease that I'm portraying, and I’m at a much different stage of the disease — my character's in a much different stage of the disease than Michael is," Ford continued of his character.

“But Michael, as [showrunner] Bill [Lawrence] points out, is totally there on the intellectual level. And emotionally, his humor and his courage are evident.”

Fox has been just as effusive about his costar. “Harrison is so good," Fox told PEOPLE at the A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Cure Parkinson’s Gala in November.

"I should say he’s an underrated actor because everybody knows how great he is, but the subtlety of his work — so brilliant and so fun to work with."

Ford was "so protective of me" on the set, Fox said, "and wanted me to have a great experience.”

New episodes of Shrinking drop Wednesdays on Apple TV.

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”