Shrinking Is Harrison Ford's Defining Work (& I Grew Up With Star Wars & Indiana Jones)
As a lifelong fan of the actor, I can safely say the Harrison Ford Shrinkingperformance is the best of his career so far. This isn’t a statement I make lightly. Growing up in the 1990s, VHS copies of Star Wars and Indiana Jones were my introduction to action cinema. Harrison Ford was one of the first actors I could point to and name as a kid, and this dedication continued into my teen years and beyond (especially when I was old enough to appreciate films like Patriot Games and Witness).
I knew I would find something to enjoy in the Apple TV+ show Shrinking given that Harrison Ford was part of the cast (and the premise of the show itself was also interesting). However, what I didn’t expect was that I’d see a Harrison Ford performance I rated even more highly than Jack Ryan, Indiana Jones, or even Han Solo. Shrinking isn’t just a return to form for Harrison Ford, it’s him surpassing himself. Fans of the actor who haven’t seen Harrison Ford in Shrinking yet need to check out the show for his performance in it if nothing else - and there are several reasons why.
Shrinking Cast & Character Guide
Shrinking has become a hit series for Apple TV+, with the star-studded cast led by Jason Segel and Harrison Ford making the comedy even better.
Who Harrison Ford Plays In Shrinking
Ford Brings Dr. Paul Rhoades To Life
Harrison Ford plays Dr. Paul Rhoades in Shrinking, a therapist who, over the course of the series, navigates having to adapt to life with Parkinson’s disease - a progressive neurological condition that causes (among other symptoms) degeneration of motor functions. Shrinking mainly follows Jason Segel’s Jimmy Laird, a therapist who works with Paul at the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Center. However, Paul is just as important a character, especially as the various narratives in Shrinking gain momentum.
Paul in Shrinking is one of the most emotionally complex roles Harrison Ford has ever taken on. Even without factoring in his journey with Parkinson's, his relationship with his adult daughter Meg (Lily Rabe), or his various frustrations with Jimmy, Dr. Paul Rhoades is far from simple.
Harrison Ford brings an astounding level of authenticity to the role too, and it’s not surprising that he’s been nominated for multiple accolades for his performance, including a Golden Globe in 2025.
While Paul is a therapist and has a deep understanding of the human mind, he’s far from without problems of his own. Paul is incredibly emotionally vulnerable despite his gruff exterior and struggles to let others in even though he deeply values the connections he has with them. Decades of working as a therapist have left him cynical and jaded, especially when it comes to sharing his feelings (and, importantly, asking others for help when he needs it).
These traits all, of course, mean that Parkinson’s disease has significant emotional ramifications that are incredibly specific to Paul. The nature of the condition means he knows he’ll have to become increasingly dependent on others as the years go on. Despite how uncomfortable doing so makes him, he knows he can’t avoid learning how to rely on those around him.
It’s a fascinating position for a character to be in, and makes for one of the most interesting narrative arcs in the entirety of Shrinking. Harrison Ford brings an astounding level of authenticity to the role too, and it’s not surprising that he’s been nominated for multiple accolades for his performance, including a Golden Globe in 2025.
How The Harrison Ford Shrinking Character Fits His Fandom
Paul Reflects The Experiences Of Ford's Many Lifelong Supporters
Paul in Shrinking may be a different kind of role for Harrison Ford, but it’s one that rather neatly fits his fandom. Harrison Ford rose to prominence during the 1970s and 1980s, but he made his debut in the early 1960s. A huge portion of his fandom were teens when they first discovered him in movies like 1977’s Star Wars: A New Hope, 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark, or even earlier in 1973’s American Graffiti, are around the same age as Ford himself.
While coincidental, this also means that Shrinking is, in many ways, a perfect show for Harrison Ford’s longest-standing fans. Paul is an incredibly complex and deep character and one that’s experiencing many of the same existential struggles that the 82-year-old Ford likely has personal experience with. In fact, it’s this ability to relate to Paul is probably partly why Ford’s performance is so believable.
Much like Ford himself, Paul is finding that the number of years he’s seen is becoming a source of change in his world.
Since many of Harrison Ford’s fans will be around the same age as him, Paul in Shrinking will likely resonate with them. Seeing an on-screen presence they’ve known for decades navigating the same life changes they’re journeying through adds an additional dimension of relatability and immersion to the viewing experience. For much the same reason that teen movies are more emotionally engaging when you’re actually in high school, Harrison Ford’s longest-standing fans will find Paul’s journey far easier to get lost in than viewers born after the height of his career.
The transition to roles like Paul in Shrinking marks how his career has changed over the decades. It’s something that, in many ways, the narrative of Dr. Rhoades mirrors. Much like Ford himself, Paul is finding that the number of years he’s seen is becoming a source of change in his world.
Ford’s fans who saw Han help Luke blow up the Death Star in theaters in 1977 will now find it easier to imagine being Paul than they can picture themselves facing off against Storm Troopers.
The same will be true of many of Ford’s fans, which makes Shrinking in many ways the perfect career direction for the actor - even if Paul is a surprising shift from even the more recent renditions of Han Solo or Indiana Jones. It may not be the kind of role that made them first fall in love with Harrison Ford’s movies, but the vast difference is a strength.
Ford’s fans who saw Han help Luke blow up the Death Star in theaters in 1977 will now find it easier to imagine being Paul than they can picture themselves facing off against Storm Troopers. This is why Paul is the perfect Harrison Ford role for his own fandom (and has likely helped Shrinking remain a success as a result).
Shrinking Season 3: Cast, Story & Everything We Know
Apple TV+'s hilarious and heartfelt series, Shrinking, has returned for its second season, and the psychiatrist comedy has already been renewed.
Why Harrison Ford’s In Shrinking Shows More Range Than His Other Work
Paul's Journey Brings Out More Sides Of Ford Than Have Ever Been Seen
Harrison Ford has never played a character quite like Paul in Shrinking - and this is partly why it’s one of his best roles. However, the reason it’s already among the favorite roles of many Harrison Ford fans like myself isn’t just because it’s a new experience seeing him as someone grumpy, vulnerable, and antisocial instead of as a cocky charismatic hero (though that’s a factor). Mainly though, it’s because watching Harrison Ford in Shrinking shows more of his range than anything else he’s been in.
While Paul’s personality may be almost the complete opposite than his Star Wars or Indiana Jonescharacters, but it’s worth noting these aren’t his only two movies. Ford has played dozens of characters across his decades-long career. Shrinking doesn’t show Harrison Ford’s range simply because Paul isn’t Han Solo or Indiana Jones. Ford has played scores of other characters who are also nothing like the galactic smuggler or adventuring archaeologist.
Learning to live with Parkinson’s disease is a unique and emotionally impactful journey for those who need to undertake it.
Shrinking shows more of Harrison Ford’s range than any of his other roles because of the complex journey Paul goes on within the show itself. Paul in the Shrinking season 1 premiere is vastly different from Dr. Rhoades in the season 2 ending. This is entirely because of Ford’s expert ability to capture the subtle nuances and shifts in Paul’s personality. While many Shrinking plot arcs impact this, such as his relationship with his daughter, none show it more clearly than Paul’s progressive Parkinson’s disease.
Learning to live with Parkinson’s disease is a unique and emotionally impactful journey for those who need to undertake it. It’s a progressive degenerative condition (meaning symptoms will only increase) with no known cure, which means maintaining mental health can be just as difficult for those experiencing it. However, this isn’t the only reason portraying a character adapting to the impact of Parkinson’s disease is challenging for any actor. And, while Ford’s near-perfect capturing of Paul’s changing emotional health is exemplary, it’s the second reason that secures the role as the best display of the true depths of his talents ever seen.
Harrison Ford needed to ensure he didn’t downplay the physiological changes Paul experiences, but also didn’t exaggerate them for dramatic effect.
As has been proved by many actors who muddied their careers with insensitive portrayals of medical conditions, playing someone with Parkinson’s disease authentically, sensitively, and in a way that doesn’t make the symptoms the core of the character, is of the utmost importance. Had Harrison Ford’s performance of many of Paul’s Parkinson’s symptoms, such as involuntary tremors, been anything other the exceptional then it would have caused a significant backlash.
At no point could the way Parkinson’s disease presents in Dr. Rhoades be unrealistic. Harrison Ford needed to ensure he didn’t downplay the physiological changes Paul experiences, but also didn’t exaggerate them for dramatic effect. Having worked in residential care for many years and looked after many real-life individuals who, like Paul, are navigating life with Parkinson’s disease, I can speak from experience when I say the many positive reviews of Shrinking are correct - Harrison Ford’s depiction is nothing short of masterful.
What Harrison Ford Has Said About Playing Dr. Paul Rhoades
The Significance Of Paul Isn't Lost On The Actor
The Harrison Ford Shrinking performance shows a side of the actor he’s never revealed, so there’s a key question many fans want answered - what does the Star Wars and Indiana Jones think of Dr. Paul Rhoades? Shrinking’s Paul is a complex character, and one that feels a world away from many of the action heroes Ford built his career on.
Speaking at a panel in LA in 2024 (via Deadline), Harrison Ford explained why, in his perspective, Paul in Shrinking was so different from his other roles. However, his thoughts on Dr. Rhoades compared to the likes of Han Solo or Indiana Jones didn’t delve into the character himself. Instead, Ford talked about how the engagement he’s had with Shrinking fans is so different from those he meets through their love of Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and other movies is a regular reminder that Paul isn’t like his other characters:
“What [the Shrinking fans Harrison For has met] are doing is they’re knitting into this empathetic framework. And they’re not seeing me as an actor. They’re seeing me as someone that they’ve had this nature of experience with. And it’s a phenomenal change in my mind, in my life.”
While this doesn’t reveal much about Harrison Ford’s perspective on Paul’s personality in Shrinking, it does show that the veteran actor is fully aware that there’s something different about his role in the Apple TV+ original. The response he’s had from the Shrinking fandom are, to him, and indication of how much more meaningful - on a deeper, human level - Paul is as a character than others he’s portrayed.
However, Harrison Ford understood Paul would be a notable role for him came before he’d even signed on to the show, and nevermind met any fans. Speaking to GQ ahead of the release of Shrinking season 2, Ford revealed that Paul stood out to him from the moment he read the script. When asked why he wanted to sign on for Shrinking in the first place, Harrison Ford explained:
“The success of the writing. It seems a difficult thing to do, but it was done with grace and charm, and I thought it was successful when I read the script that was given to me by Brett Goldstein. And it was something that I immediately was attracted to because of its success in both the areas of drama and comedy. It was an unusual character for me to play, I thought.”
It seems that Harrison Ford picked up on the same thing that I and - according to Ford's own accounts - many other Shrinking fans have since first seeing him on the show. Dr. Paul Rhoades is a completely new direction for the Star Wars and Indiana Jones star. It’s a career move of the best kind, one that completely redefines how audiences see an actor they already have no shortage of respect for. I didn’t think I could enjoy watching Harrison Ford any more than I already did, but Shrinkingshocked me by exposing that an actor I’ve followed all my life still has much, much more to give.
Shrinking
- Release Date
- January 26, 2023
- Showrunner
- Bill Lawrence
- Directors
- Bill Lawrence
- Writers
- Brett Goldstein, Bill Lawrence, Jason Segel
Cast
Jimmy
Luke TennieSean
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