Apple TV+ has announced Michael J. Fox will be joining the cast of the streaming service’s popular comedy series Shrinking as a guest star during season 3.
Fox first leapt to fame as Alex P. Keaton in the NBC sitcom Family Ties, where he became the focus of the show. His star shined even brighter when he starred in the Back to the Future trilogy ans several other popular comedic and dramatic films.
At the height of his popularity, Fox was in 1991 diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease while filming the movie Doc Hollywood. Fox kept the diagnosis secret until 1998, when he revealed his medical issues during the third season of Spin City. Fox’s symptoms continued to worsen, resulting in Fox turning the lead role in the half hour comedy over to Charlie Sheen in 2000. That same year, he founded the The Michael J. Fox Foundation to fund advocacy and research aimed at finding a cure for Parkinson’s.
In 2023, Fox appeared in a well done Apple TV+ documentary, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie.
Big feelings incoming. Michael J. Fox joins the Shrinking cast as a guest star in season 3.#Shrinking Season 2 — New Streaming pic.twitter.com/XQrbr67CdG
— Apple TV (@AppleTV) May 15, 2025
Fox is now returning to Apple TV+ as a guest star on Shrinking, likely due to one of the story arcs on the series that drals with Parkinson’s. Series regular Harrison Ford (who knew he could do comedy, but he’s freaking great at it) stars Dr. Paul Rhoades, a renowned psychiatrist who is learning to live with Parkinson’s disease.
Fox was also likely lured back to the small screen due to Shrinking’s being co-written and executive-produced by Bill Lawrence, who worked with Fox on Spin City. Lawrence recently told Variety that Michael J. Fox inspired how Shrinking portrays Parkinson’s disease.
“It’s cool to get to write about things you care about now,” Lawerence said. “And Michael J. Fox is my first mentor. So we wanted to represent it in hopefully an inspiring and not sad or tragic way.”
Shrinking has proven to be one of Apple TV+’s most popular series, and has landed several award nominations, including nominations for SAG’s Outstanding Performance in a Comedy Series for the ensemble cast overall and Jason Segel and Harrison Ford specifically, and a BAFTA writing award for Brett Goldstein’s work.
Apple has not yet announced a premiere date for season 3 of Shrinking. In addiiton to Michael J. Fox, several other gust stars will appear during season 3, including Jeff Daniels as Jimmy’s father and Sherry Cola and Isabella Gomez for roles that haven’t yet been revealed.
(Via iDropNews)
