After Harrison Ford's emotional performance in the season 2 finale of ShrinkBill Lawrence breaks down the show's depiction of Parkinson's disease.
The 2x Emmy winner recently noted that he and Shrink Co-creator Brett Goldstein has a “deep history” with Parkinson's as their father suffers from the disease, while explaining how his “mentor” Michael J. Fox also influenced the show.
“It's great to write about things that matter to you now,” Lawrence said. the people. “And Michael J. Fox is my first teacher. So we wanted to represent it in a way that was inspiring and not sad or tragic.”
He added, “I found the number one mentor in my life and career, Michael J. Fox, to be very inspiring in the way he handled things and continued to work harder than anyone I knew. And we want to kind of carry that spirit if we can into the show.”
Lawrence noted that he “generally confronts difficult, offensive situations with comedy” in his life. He added: “It takes time as a writer to realize what your voice is – I think my voice is inherently hopeful and optimistic.”
Bill Lawrence attends An Evening with Shrinking on Apple TV+ at Writers Guild Theater on December 12, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
“I absorb the inspiring people around me, and steal from them as much as I can,” Lawrence said, citing Fox as one such person.
Ahead of this week's Season 2 finale, which saw Ford's Dr. Paul Rhodes announce that he had stopped taking his Parkinson's medications because they had lost their effectiveness, Lawrence told Deadline that he was unsure when or how the character's eventual death would be handled.
“I'm saying this frankly, now we're writing Season 3. I don't know if I can bear to see that, and I haven't decided yet,” Lawrence said. “I'll tell you this: What we really care about, Brett and I, is our family connections to Parkinson's disease,” Lawrence said. It is an accurate and inspiring representation of what people who have to deal with this disease go through, and what it means to move forward. “I think it would be emotional and difficult to watch, and if I knew where it ended, I wouldn't tell you, but I can be honest and say I don't know where it ends yet.”
Fox revealed his Parkinson's disease diagnosis in 1998, while working with Lawrence on the ABC sitcom Spin City (1996-2002), in which he played the role of Deputy Mayor Mike Flaherty. He has since become a vocal advocate for the disease, raising money for Parkinson's research through the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
After their time Spin CityFox appeared as Dr. Kevin Casey on the NBC/ABC series Lawrence Scrubs In 2004.
As for whether Fox could appear in… ShrinkThe actor previously indicated that he is open to returning to acting. “If something happens, I can put my truths into it, my challenges, if I can figure it out.”
