Shrinking showrunner reveals Michael J. Fox shot multiple episodes of the series due to a ‘mistake’: Here’s how

In May 2025, it was announced that Michael J. Fox would be returning to television with a guest role in Shrinking Season 3. The veteran actor was last seen in a fiction series in 2020 when he played Louis Canning in The Good Fight.

While Fox had initially signed up for only one episode of the Apple TV series, he is now going to be seen in multiple episodes of the upcoming season. The actor is a close friend of series creator Bill Lawrence.

In a recent interview, Lawrence revealed that when Fox shot his portion for the show, he told him how he enjoyed the process. The creator labeled it as a ‘mistake’, as looking at his enthusiasm, he asked Fox to return for more episodes. Speaking with People Magazine, Lawrence said:

“He made the mistake. He did the first [episode] of the year that's on in January, and he said, ‘That was so much fun. I'd do it again.’ And around me, if he ever says anything like that out loud, I'm like, ‘Oh then come back in two weeks.’ So he had to come back again.”

Shrinking showrunner talks about Michael J. Fox’s role in Season 3

The details about Michael J. Fox’s role had earlier been kept under wraps. Bill Lawrence has now revealed that Fox will play a patient suffering from Parkinson's. Notably, the actor has the disease in real life as well. Talking about Fox’s character in the show, Lawrence said:

“It's not a simple, preachy role. He's a wise-a** and as acerbic as he's always been, and he's kind of a really key part of the first episode, and he had so much fun, and we had so much.”

Shrinking tells the story of Jimmy Laird, a therapist dealing with the loss of his wife. As he struggles with grief, he starts getting involved in his patients’ lives and tells them how he actually feels. Hence, the personal and professional boundaries soon start getting blurred.

This is not the first time that Fox and Lawrence collaborated on a project. They previously worked together on ABC’s Spin City in the 1990s. The two seem to have shared a great rapport over the years. In an earlier interview with the same media outlet, Fox revealed that he himself called Lawrence when he watched Shrinking and asked for a role in it. The actor said:

“I said, ‘You did a show about Parkinson’s, and you didn’t call me?’ And he said, ‘Oh, you want to do it?’ And I said, ‘I’d love to do it.’ So he said, ‘Let me think about it, see what I can do.’ So he went to work on it and came up with this concept, it's really good.”

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Fox is not the only star who is going to show up in Shrinking Season 3. Isabella Gomez, Candice Bergen, Sherry Cola, and Jeff Daniels have also joined the cast as guest stars. The returning cast includes Jason Segel as Jimmy Laird, Harrison Ford as Dr. Paul Rhoades, Lukita Maxwell as Alice Laird, Michael Urie as Brian, Luke Tennie as Sean, and Jessica Williams as Gaby.

Shrinking Season 3 will premiere on Apple TV on January 28, 2026.

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