Brett Goldstein Offered Harrison Ford Shrinking As A Joke (Then Ignored His Call)

Much has been made about Harrison Ford's recent foray into prestige TV. In 2023, when he's not traversing the treacherous plains of Montana in "1923," he's performing some tastefully understated comedy alongside Jason Segel in Apple TV+'s "Shrinking." But prior to both roles, Ford had stayed away from the small screen since he first appeared as Han Solo all the way back in 1977's "Star Wars."

In reality, it's not all that shocking that Ford is suddenly starring in two different TV shows. For some time now, TV has been keeping pace, if not outdoing movies in terms of production value and overall prestige. So if you are, as Ford told The Hollywood Reporter, eager to get back to work after sitting through a global pandemic, why not venture into the realm of premium streaming shows? Luckily, for "Shrinking" co-creators Brett Goldstein and Bill Lawrence, that's exactly what the Hollywood vet did.

The "Ted Lasso" collaborators decided to send Ford their script about a therapist who embraces radical honesty with his patients while grieving the loss of his wife, thinking they had no chance of actually landing the 80-year-old star. But it seems they caught him at the right time. Even though he was hard at work on the upcoming "Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny," Ford was impressed enough with the "Shrinking" script that he invited Goldstein to his place in London to discuss it. But not before the writer ignored his phone call altogether.

Casting Harrison Ford in "Shrinking" turned out to be a stroke of genius as it not only lent the show some serious gravitas, but it gave Ford a chance to showcase his comedic side. Securing that magnetic aura proved to be a touch-and-go process for Brett Goldstein and Bill Lawrence, despite Ford's enthusiasm for the script. Goldstein spoke to Stephen Colbert about the whole thing on The Late Show, where he revealed that he and Lawrence decided to "offer it to Harrison Ford and then laugh about the fact [they] offered it to Harrison Ford." But as it turned out, the "Indiana Jones" star was so impressed with what he read that he decided to call Goldstein, who ignored the call as it came from a number he didn't recognize. But once Goldstein heard Ford's voicemail, he called back to arrange a meeting, which he described to Colbert:

"I turn up at the apartment, ring the doorbell. Han Solo answers the door, and I'm like, 'Hello mate!' And I go in the house, and he goes, 'Best script I've ever read.' And I go, 'Shrinking?' Because I've seen 'Raiders of the Lost Ark,' that's a very good script. What are you talking about? And then I see on his table, he's got loads of scripts, and I go, 'Oh, he thinks I'm someone else. He's thinking of the wrong thing.' And I see the 'Shrinking' script and I point at it and I go, 'Shrinking?' And he goes, 'Best dialogue I ever read.' And I go, 'Oh, okay. Do you wanna be in it?' And he goes, 'Yeah!' And I go, 'Okay then.' And then he goes, 'Is that business done?' And I go, 'Looks like it.' And he goes, 'Let's eat!'"

With "Shrinking," the notoriously grumpy Harrison Ford reminded us all why he's as big a star as he is, demonstrating gentle restraint in the role of Dr. Paul Rhodes that serves as a perfect balance to Jason Segel's often manic energy as therapist Jimmy Laird. And, as Brett Goldstein and his collaborators no doubt suspected, having him onboard made their jobs a lot easier when it came to writing. In /Film's interview with Goldstein he said:

"Yeah, I hate to say it, it's easy because it's [Ford] and it's kind of easy to write to his voice and he's so f***ing good. I'm not saying it's easy, easy, but it's a pleasure because you're excited to go, 'He's going to say this and he is going to make this f***ing really funny or really moving.' He's Harrison Ford."

But despite Goldstein's amusing story about securing Ford for his dramedy, it seems the actor recalls it differently. In fact, Ford maintains that he didn't even read the script before saying yes to "Shrinking," throwing the actual genesis of his involvement into question. But whatever the actual series of events, it's clear Ford was looking for new projects that would allow him to branch out, and "Shrinking" provided the perfect opportunity in that regard. Even if Goldstein hadn't called him back, it's likely Ford would have found his way into the show, especially if "Shrinking" was indeed the best script he'd ever read. Or not read, depending on who you ask.