In 2020, Michael J. Fox announced that he was retiring from acting, but it ended up not being a permanent decision. Along with his voice role in Zootopia 2 a few months ago, the Back to the Future star has now made his onscreen acting return in Shrinking, which premiered its third season on the 2026 TV schedule this week. This wasn’t the first time that Fox has gone back on deciding to leave acting behind him, and he explained why he decided to return again to take part in the Apple TV subscription-exclusive series.
Fox is guest-starring in Shrinking Season 3 as Gerry, a Parkinson’s patient who befriends Harrison Ford’s Dr. Paul Rhoades, who has the same disease. After being impressed by Shrinking’s first two seasons, Fox reached out to show creator Bill Lawrence, whom he worked with on Spin City and Scrubs, to delicately ask “Bill, why the fuck am I not on the show?” That paved the way for his performing comeback, and when asked by The Los Angeles Times how he it was to arrive at the decision, Fox answered:
