Michael J. Fox Is Returning to Acting After 5-Year Hiatus, Lands Role in ‘Shrinking’ Season 3

Michael J. Fox is making his way back to our TV screens! The Family Ties alum is returning to acting in season 3 of Shrinking.

Deadline reported that Michael, 63, will have a “major guest-starring role” in the show’s upcoming season.

The series stars Jason Segel as Jimmy Laird, a therapist who lost his wife in a car accident and is raising their teenage daughter, Alice Laird, played by Lukita Maxwell, with the help of friends Gaby Evans, played by Jessica Williams, and Liz, played by Christa Miller. The series also features Harrison Ford, who plays Dr. Paul Rhoades, a therapist who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

Shrinking was cocreated and is executive produced by Bill Lawrence, whom Michael previously worked with on Spin City. It is not yet clear what character Michael will be portraying on the AppleTV+ comedy drama series. This will mark his first on-camera acting appearance since 2020’s The Good Fight.

Michael, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991, explained that he hit pause on acting after his experience on The Good Fight.

“I thought of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. There’s a scene where Leonardo DiCaprio’s character can’t remember his lines anymore,” he said during a May 2023 interview with Empire about stepping away from acting. “He goes back to his dressing room and he’s screaming at himself in the mirror. Just freaking insane. I had this moment where I was looking in the mirror and thought, ‘I cannot remember it anymore. Well, let’s move on.’ It was peaceful.”

“I’m not gonna lie. It’s getting harder,” he said of living with Parkinson’s. “Every day it’s tougher.”

In April 2024, the Back to the Future actor said that he would return to acting under one condition.

“I would do acting if something came up that I could put my realities into it, my challenges, if I could figure it out,” he said during an interview with Entertainment Tonight.

In the same interview, the Canada-born star said that he already achieved his biggest goal of all.

“My biggest goal, I think, was to raise a family,” Michael said. “We have four amazing kids, and that’s been the big thing.”

Michael is a dad to four kids, Sam, 35, twins Aquinnah and Schuyler, both 30, and Esme, 23, with wife Tracy Pollan. He has often credited his family for helping him get through some difficult times.

“It took me a while to get that it wasn’t just about me,” he told People in October 2022. “If I break my arm, I’m dealing with my broken arm. But if you’re the person who lives with and loves and supports the person with the broken arm, you’ve got to do everything.”

Through his years battling Parkinson’s in the public eye, Michael has inspired others with his philanthropy and honest admissions about living with the disease, which does not have a cure.

“I’ve won more awards and had more nominations since I announced my diagnosis,” he told Variety in May 2023. “It may be that people feel bad for me, but I prefer to look at it as an acknowledgment for continuing to have a legitimate career.”