Info in Movie News | Michael J. Fox is broadly coming back into the limelight with his role in season 3 of Shrinking. Actually, it is his most significant on-screen acting work in several years. The tenor changes considerably by bringing in Fox who is grappling with complex issues as his character joins the show’s already profound exploration of grief, therapy, and life with Parkinson’s disease. Interestingly, Fox’s character becomes the one whose grief story gets interwoven in the show, so his cameo is not simply a short or humorous stunt.
According to ScreenRant, Fox in a very casual manner, expressed to Bill Lawrence, the co-creator of Shrinking, that he wanted to act and that he missed the set. That single line was expanded into a guest appearance over several episodes perhaps as a result of it being integrated more deeply into the story and the mood of the show. Importantly, Fox is not portraying a version of himself. Instead, he simply plays a character that is fully developed, which not only emotionally connects with the world of Shrinking but also allows the Fox's comic timing to be effective.
Essentially, Shrinking is about therapist Jimmy Laird, a role taken by Jason Segel, who is trying to put pieces of his life back together after his wife's tragic death. Grief and guilt weigh heavily on him and so, in an act of desperation, he throws away the usual decorum of the profession and starts to give his patients his frank, unfiltered opinion. His out-of-the-ordinary tactic results in astonishing therapeutic advances, not only for his patients but also for himself, however, the emotional consequences ensue, thus, his personal and professional relationships get intertwined with this kind of emotional fallout.
Another figure, who is very significant, in the life of Jimmy is Paul Rhoades, his senior colleague and mentor, played by Harrison Ford. The powerful moment in Paul's character journey was when he received a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, a change that was increasingly becoming the core of the last episode of season 2. Ultimately, Paul together with his loved ones, makes a heartfelt and brave confrontation of his fears and uncertainties of what lies ahead that is clearly visible in his speech. That very moment was the reason that in season 3, Paul slowly but surely outlines Parkinson’s not as an unseen presence, but rather as a lived reality.
The entry of Fox in season 3 can be best described as the onward of Paul’s story leading to the natural and expected consequence. In an interview, Bill Lawrence said that the creative team was eager to depict a variety of viewpoints about living with Parkinson’s whereas still retaining the humor and the vulnerable aspects of the show. Paul and Fox's characters share a great deal, and thus, the two characters’ interactions will be not only emotional but real humorous as well. Lawrence pointed out that Fox is still endowed with "incredible comedic timing," a feature that the audience has been able to trace from the time of Family Ties and Spin City.
One aspect that helps this casting to be very touching is the connection of the main actor with the story in real life. In 1991, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (he announced it in 1998), hence later he slowly gave up his acting workload and in 2020, he completely left the camera-directed roles. After that, he has been very active in advocacy and research through the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which has become a major donor to Parkinson’s research. His appearance in Shrinking is not shown as a comeback event, but rather as a sensible collaboration made of shared story and character.
Season 3 of Shrinking also expands Jimmy’s personal world. Jeff Daniels is the new addition to the cast who plays the role of Jimmy's dad, thus, bringing in a fresh familial tension and unresolved past layer. This bond between characters confronts Jimmy with his own emotional blindness as through the storyline, we see him dealing with parenthood, friendship, and his therapy profession identity. Besides, new faces like Candice Bergen, Sherry Cola, and Isabella Gomez have been cast to widen the ensemble of the show and keep up the momentum in the narrative.
Though the central issue is a heavy one, Shrinking has, nevertheless, been affectionate and funny, which are its features through which people can comfortably get the plot. It is expected that Fox's persona will be the chief element that will be able to balance things out. The character is said to be sharp, perceptive, and quite at ease with using a joke to his kind of situation, which is very much in line with the show's mood. Rather than making Parkison's a tragic sink, Shrinking is deciding to represent it as one of the beautiful, complex aspects of life.
Shrinking season 3 will be airing on Apple TV+ on January 28. The addition of Fox to the cast that already includes Ford, Segel, and others, will be the reason for the new season to delve further, and see in a more intimate way, how people deal with loss, illness, and change but still manage to smile. The fact that Fox comes back is a definite indication that the series is still very much about human stories told in an honest, respectful and heartfelt way.
Source ScreenRant, People, The Hollywood Reporter
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