Michael J. Fox will return to acting in ‘Shrinking’ season 3

Michael J. Fox is returning to acting.

The legendary Back to the Future star has joined the cast of Apple TV+’s Shrinking for the comedy’s third season. Fox will appear as a guest star in an undisclosed role.

The series marks Fox’s first on-camera acting role since his retirement in 2020. Before Shrinking, his most recent live-action performance was in two episodes of The Good Fight season 4, reprising his character Louis Canning from The Good Wife. Fox also voiced a character in the 2021 animated short Back Home Again, and was the subject of the 2023 documentary Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie.

Fox previously worked with Shrinking co-creator Bill Lawrence on Spin City, headlining the political sitcom from 1996 to 2001.

Though Fox stepped away from acting in 2020, he said he remained open to the possibility of a comeback for the right project. “If someone offers me a part and I do it and I have a good time, great,” the actor told Entertainment Tonight in 2024. “I would do acting if something came up that I could put my realities into it, my challenges, if I could figure it out.”

Shrinking stars Jason Segel as a grieving therapist, Jimmy, and Harrison Ford as his mentor and coworker, Paul. In season 2, Ford’s character discovers he is battling Parkinson’s disease — the same condition with which Fox was diagnosed in 1991. Fox has been among the foremost advocates for Parkinson’s research since his diagnosis, founding The Michael J. Fox Foundation in 2000 to help advance understanding and treatment of the disease.

Shrinking season 3 will also feature new guest star Jeff Daniels, who’ll play Jimmy’s father. Sherry Cola (Joy Ride) and Isabella Gomez (One Day at a Time) will also appear in the upcoming season.

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The series also stars Jessica Williams, Michael Urie, Christa Miller, Luke Tennie, Lukita Maxwell, and Ted McGinley. Previous recurring and guest stars include Shrinking co-creator Brett Goldstein, Segel’s How I Met Your Mother costar Cobie Smulders, Damon Wayans Jr., Heidi Gardner, Lily Rabe, and Kelly Bishop.