Bill Lawrence reveals how “mentor” Michael J Fox’s Parkinson’s battle influenced ‘Shrinking’
Emmy-winning television producer Bill Lawrence has opened up about how his relationship with the actor Michael J Fox influenced his hit series Shrinking and its plot line about Parkinson’s disease.
The series follows a grieving therapist, played by Jason Siegel, who starts to become more involved in his clients’ lives after the death of his wife. Harrison Ford co-stars as a fellow therapist who reveals his Parkinson’s diagnosis at the end of the first season.
Speaking to People last week, Lawrence discussed the emotional season two finale, which was released on December 24th. In the episode, Ford’s character reveals that he has stopped taking his medication because it no longer works.
“It’s cool to get to write about things you care about now,” Lawrence 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.”
Fox, who shot to stardom in the 1985 classic Back to the Future, starred in Lawrence’s first show as a creator, the political sitcom Spin City, which ran from 1996 until 2001. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1991 and has been a vocal advocate for those fighting the disease ever since revealing his diagnosis in 1998.
Lawrence found Fox “to be so inspiring with the way he took it in stride” and explained that he wanted to honour his spirit and work ethic in the show. In addition to his former mentor, Lawrence has another connection with Parkinson’s – both his father and the father of his fellow Shrinking creator, Brett Goldstein, have the disease.
In an interview with People in early December, Ford talked about his experience playing a character with Parkinson’s, saying that he takes the responsibility “deadly fucking seriously.” The character, he explained, wasn’t meant to represent everyone who is diagnosed with the disease, but that his profession as a therapist posed a special opportunity. “[T]his is a person particularly equipped to communicate what it’s like,” Ford said. “And that is something that I feel that is worth sharing with our audience.”
In a recent interview with Deadline, Lawrence said that he plans to focus the upcoming third season around the character’s experience, but expressed trepidation about showing his eventual death.
“I don’t know if I could stomach having to see that, and I haven’t decided yet,” he said. “I will tell you this: what we really care about, Brett and me, both with our family connections to Parkinson’s, is an accurate and inspiring representation of what people that have to deal with that shit go through, and what it means moving forward.”
Never Miss A Scene
The Far Out Film Newsletter
All the latest film news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.