Harrison Ford Explains How He Wound Up in Brett Goldstein and Bill Lawrence’s ‘Shrinking’ Series

Brett Goldstein and Bill Lawrence didn’t have to do much to convince Harrison Ford to co-star in their new Apple TV+ comedy series, “Shrinking.”

In the show, Jason Segel stars as a therapist who is facing his own personal issues, including the unexpected death of his wife. Ford plays his boss and mentor while Jessica Williams plays another therapist at the practice.

At Thursday night’s premiere in Los Angeles, Goldstein remembered being quite gobsmacked meeting the “Indiana Jones” and “Star Wars” legend in London to talk about the project. “I walked in and he said, ‘Best script I’ve ever read,’” Goldstein told me. “I saw a bunch of scripts on his table and I thought, ‘He thinks I’m someone else. There are loads of scripts here. This is embarrassing.'”

“He went, ‘Best dialogue I’ve ever read,’” he continued. “I said, ‘You want to do it then?’ He said, ‘Yeah. Let’s eat.’ We had dinner. We talked about the character. He cared about how his character dressed, how he fit in the story.”

Ford said, “I liked the writing. I liked the character. I liked the intention. I liked the combination of pathos and comedy. I didn’t see anything unattractive about the whole thing.”

Lawrence said he was able to get the script to Ford because “we knew each other a little.” He was working in Miami when Ford called him. “I was not prepared for anything but a ‘no’ so I panicked a little. He said, ‘I like the script a lot, but I’m not in the pilot a lot. Am I in the next one a lot?’” Lawrence said. “I was like, ‘You’re in whatever you want to be in, man. You could be in every scene if you want. You tell me.’ He was so gracious…Talk about inspiring. Look at him bouncing around from one project to another.’”

Executive producer Neil Goldman said some of Ford’s best lines came from unexpected ad-libbing. “Some of the most heartfelt lines and moments…were so in the moment that what he says is so authentic and true to the scene; it’s all very usable. It was an embarrassment of riches while we were editing.”

Ford modestly shrugged off the praise. “I don’t know if I’m ad-libbing that much,” he said, before cracking, “Maybe it’s just that I didn’t remember my lines.”

While a second season hasn’t been greenlit yet, Goldstein joked — at least we think he was joking — that he’d like Kermit the Frog to guest star. “Maybe he’s having trouble with Miss Piggy and they’re having couples therapy,” he quipped. “You know, this is the first time I said that out loud and now I’m thinking, ‘That’s a good idea.’”