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Harrison Ford, legendary actor and sufferer of zero fools, star of Indiana Jones and Star Wars and a million glorious ’90s conspiracy thrillers, is now improbably starring in a TV comedy.
On the Apple TV+ series Shrinking, opposite Jason Segel and Jessica Williams, the 82-year-old plays Paul, the owner of a therapy practice. Paul’s gruffness and no-nonsense style feels not so far away from Ford, or, at least, from his public persona—droll one-liners included.
Ahead of Shrinking season two, which debuts on October 16, Ford spoke to GQ about how close he feels to Paul, whether he misses those thrillers, and that one fit pic you have saved to your phone. (You know the one.)
GQ: Shrinking is your first venture into full-on comedy. It’s also one of your few television roles. What appealed to you about it in the first place?
Harrison Ford: It’s not my first comedy. I mean, I’ve done a lot of comedies in film. It’s my first television thing, maybe, but I have done a lot of things that were branded comedies.
Yes, that’s true. I suppose it’s been billed as your first straight comedy.
Well, and that’s not true either.
It’s sad!
Yeah, so let’s see what else we can debunk while we’re at it. Yeah, no—the show is in fact a blend of comedy and drama that’s quite unusual and striking for its bravery.
Well, what made it something you wanted to sign up for?
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.
Maybe we can debunk this too: There’s been a lot said about how your character in the show, Paul, is a lot like you, or at least like your public persona. How accurate would you say that is?
Well, as an actor, you really have only your own experience, your own capacity to understand, and you’re stuck with yourself. It’s the chemistry you came with.
I don’t have Parkinson’s disease. There are a lot of elements and details of Paul’s life that are different to mine, but I think he’s a comic character. The humor is written for me—I certainly don’t make this shit up. But I lent my face and my head, so if it looks like me, I guess it must be me.
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