Michael J Fox is returning to acting with a role in ‘Shrinking’.
Michael J. Fox is returning to acting.
The ‘Back to the Future’ star stepped back from his career in front of the camera in 2020 amid his struggles with Parkinson’s Disease, but will appear in an undisclosed role in the third season of Apple TV+ series ‘Shrinking’.
Michael’s casting marks a reunion with co-creator and executive producer Bill Lawrence, who he previously worked with on ‘Spin City’.
Bill previously explained ‘Shrinking’ was in part influenced by Michael and his diagnosis with the incurable condition, which Harrison Ford’s character also has in the series.
He told People magazine: “It’s cool to get to write about things you care about now, and Michael J. Fox is my first mentor, so we wanted to represent it in hopefully an inspiring and not sad or tragic way. [I was] obsessed with showing the portrait of living [with Parkinson’s].
“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. And we want to kind of carry that spirit if we can into the show.”
Harrison himself said he takes his role “deadly f****** seriously” and felt a responsibility of showing the reality of life with Parkinson’s.
He added to People: “There’s no intention to make it into a joke, but there are people that absorb these kinds of experiences with grace and courage and a little bit of wisdom. And that is not to say that some people do not.
“It’s just to say that this is a person particularly equipped to communicate what it is that it’s like, and that is something that I feel that is worth sharing with our audience.”
Michael teased last year he would consider an acting comeback after working on his documentary ‘Still’.
He told ‘Entertainment Tonight’: “If someone offers me a part and I do it and I have a good time, great. I mean, the documentary was a big thrill.
“[The documentary] was fun. I never would have set that as a goal. It just happened. I would do acting if something came up that I could put my realities into it, my challenges.”
Michael J Fox making acting comeback
