Apple TV’s Shrinking Moved Harrison Ford So Deeply He’s Ready To Retire
Harrison Ford has found his final act — Shrinking’s Dr. Paul Rhoades, an all-timer he’s willing to end on.
Harrison Ford just gave one of those career-level answers that makes you sit up. While promoting season 3 of the comedy-drama series 'Shrinking' at Apple TV's press day on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, he spoke about the job with a kind of calm finality that felt, well, definitive.
What he said, in his own words
"The kind of work that we're able to do I think is remarkable given the tools we have to work with, the notion that lies behind this series. And if it was all over here, that would be sufficient for me. This has been a different kind of job for me, and I've been doing this, as you know, for a long time. And this is very special for me. And it really nurtures me and makes me feel like what we're doing has value and importance. I look for that in my life, and I'm happy to have found it here."
That landed during a panel moderated by writer and performer Ashley Nicole Black, and it sounded less like press-day patter and more like a curtain call, if he chooses to make it one.
Why 'Shrinking' hits this hard for Ford
The show comes from Bill Lawrence, the veteran behind 'Spin City' and 'Ted Lasso' — series built on warmth without the mush. Ford plays Dr. Paul Rhoades, a seasoned therapist living with Parkinson's, and he leans into a looser, gently funny gear that suits him. He has always had timing — he can deadpan and go goofy, as anyone who remembers the 'Anchorman 2' cameo can tell you — but 'Shrinking' lets him stretch that side across an entire role instead of a quick bit.
The bigger picture
- Across decades, Ford often embodied a steady, quietly principled dad-energy on screen — think the family-first crusaders of 'Air Force One' and 'Firewall'.
- He also zigged into moral gray with characters like Rick Deckard, which keeps the myth from getting too tidy.
- Paul Rhoades threads those impulses: flawed, caring, learning, still sharp. It feels like a summation rather than a left turn.
Actors rarely get to choose their final frame. If Ford decides to park it here, 'Shrinking' reads like a clean exit — meaningful work, a character that fits, and a tone that lets him be funny, human, and unmistakably Ford, all at once.