Harrison Ford Loves ‘Shrinking’ So Much It’s “Sufficient” End to His Career

Shrinking just started rolling out episodes of its third season and a fourth has already been ordered so there’s no end in sight for the Apple TV series as of right now. But if for some reason, Harrison Ford’s career ended with the critically acclaimed hit show, the iconic actor would be cool with it.

Appearing Tuesday afternoon on a panel during Apple TV’s inaugural press day at Santa Monica’s Barker Hangar, moderator Ashley Nicole Black asked the cast to open up on the deeper questions they asked themselves after signing on for such a “thought provoking series,” which follows a grieving therapist who starts to break the rules and tell his clients exactly what he thinks.

Ford answered first. “Where do you go from here? The kind of work that we’re able to do is remarkable given the tools we have to work with, and the notion that lies behind this series. And if it was all over here, that would be sufficient,” said the 83-year-old star while seated alongside his cast mates Christa Miller, Jessica Williams, Michael Urie, Luke Tennie, Lukita Maxwell and Ted McGinley. “This has been a different kind of job for me, and I’ve been doing this for a long time. This is very special and it really nurtures me and makes me feel like what we’re doing has value and importance. I look for that in my life and I’m happy to have found it here.”

His emotional comments drew warm applause and plenty of cheers inside the hangar from the 300 or so seated guests that included press, influencers and content creators. Black recognized the impact of his comments and stated, “There’s never been a better place to end a panel.”

Ford’s comments matched with the tone of the Shrinking panel, which was overflowing with love, compliments and adoration for one another. Miller was praised for her musical choices as the series supervisor as well as for her skill in calming babies down on set. She in turn praised McGinley as “so lovely and warm” and Black as one of the “talented and gorgeous” writers who pulls double duty on set. Tennie said “there is no better quarterback, there’s no better team captain” than the “handsome and eight-feet tall” Jason Segel, who was absent. McGinley said he learns by watching Harrison that “every single person on set matters” including the person who’s giving you a cup of water, the person who meets you first thing in the morning at 5 a.m. He’s kind to everyone from the bottom of the top.”

Ford displayed some of that kindness by talking about another absent cast member, Michael J. Fox, who appears in Shrinking. It’s a notable casting in that Fox has been battling Parkinson’s disease since 1991, and Ford’s character on the show is navigating it as well.

“It was a bit daunting when I thought about it, because I am representing a character that has Parkinson’s, and Michael, of course, has the real thing,” Ford said during the panel. “I’ve always felt a real sense of responsibility for getting that part of my story right. But Michael is an extraordinary, generous and lovely fellow, who I did not know at all and had a chance to, just working on this show. It was an extraordinary experience to work with him. He is such a powerful presence. Such grace and courage and indomitability, and some of that, I hope, will help me color my portrayal of a character with Parkinson’s.”

Ford continued: “That’s the serious part of it. But the fun part of it was there as well. It was an extraordinary experience, I think for all of us, to be with Michael and see how he does what he does. He’s so funny as well.”

Shrinking is now streaming on Apple TV.

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