"Big feelings incoming" - Michael J. Fox set to make acting return after five years

After a five year hiatus pop culture icon Michael J. Fox is set to return to acting. This time around he’ll be on the small screen, joining the Shrinking cast for the hit show’s upcoming third season.

The Apple TV+ comedy is a hotbed for emotions and meaningful character arcs; these characteristics have endeared the series to its fans. The former Back to the Future star seems to understand the assignment, captioning a joint announcement post for his casting with the streamer on May 16, 2025:

“Big feelings incoming.”

Michael J. Fox joins Shrinking cast

Shrinking is a show based on the lives of therapists, and their lives in and out of their tumultuous workplace. It stars Jason Segel, Harrison Ford, Jessica Williams and Christa Miller among other burgeoning stars. Interestingly, Harrison Ford's character, Dr. Paul Rhoades, is portrayed as having Parkinson's disease, something Michael J Fox publicly came out as suffering from in 1998. It will be interesting to see if this parallel will be seen in his character as well, although per Variety reports details about his character's story arc are currently unknown.

Michael’s role on Shrinking will reunite him with Bill Lawrence, the series co-creator and mastermind behind Spin City, Fox’s late 90’s hit sitcom. While Fox was forced to exit the show early due to his diagnosis, he later featured in Lawrence’s next project, Scrubs, in 2004. Shrinking’s third season is also set to boast the addition of Jeff Daniels, Sherry Cola, and Isabella Gomez to the cast.

In November 2024, Fox addressed his love for acting in an interview with ET:

“I was good at it and it’s fun to be good at things. It’s really nice if you go into something and you say, ‘I know what to do here, I know what to bring to it.’ That’s the great thing about acting is it’s collaborative. You work with people that are just amazing.”

When speaking on his motivation to keep coming back, the actor made sure to clarify that it’s not for the accolades:

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“The award part I don’t care about as much as having had the opportunity to help them and represent something to the community. I look at a trophy and I don’t think, ‘Wow, that means I’m great.’ It’s like, ‘Wow, I made somebody happy and they gave me this.’”

Fox has already collected five Emmy awards for his work on Family Ties, Spin City and Rescue Me. He also has a total of four Golden Globes for his roles on Family Ties and Spin City. The decorated actor’s stint on Shrinking will mark his first on camera role since he appeared in CBS’ The Good Fight in 2020.

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