Why Michael J. Fox Was ‘a Huge Inspiration’ for Jason Segel During His How I Met Your Mother Days (Exclusive)

Jason Segel has long admired his new Shrinking costar Michael J. Fox.

At the Shrinking FYC Event at Apple TV+ Emmy House, The Hollywood Athletic Club, in Los Angeles on Sunday, May 18, the 45-year-old actor admitted that Fox served as an inspiration back when he was balancing his film career with his role on How I Met Your Mother.

When asked if he had the opportunity to discuss his favorite scenes from Fox’s 1985 movie Back to the Future with him, Segel told PEOPLE, “I didn’t get so specific as much as telling him that he was an idol of mine.” 

“I got the chance to tell him that he was a huge inspiration to me while I was in a weirdly similar situation doing How I Met Your Mother and movies at the same time and being tired,” he continued. “We always would talk about Michael J. Fox and what he was doing with Back to the Future and Family Ties at the same time.” 

“He’s an idol for sure,” he concluded.

Fox and Segel are now working together on the upcoming third season of Shrinking, which also marks Fox’s return to on-camera acting following retirement in 2020 due to his struggles from Parkinson’s.

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On the series, Harrison Ford’s character Paul is navigating his Parkinson’s diagnosis as he continues to practice mental health therapy. 

In December, Shrinking co-creator Bill Lawrence revealed he found inspiration for the series from Fox and his journey with Parkinson’s. The pair first worked together on Spin City, which ran for six seasons from 1996 to 2002.

“It’s cool to get to write about things you care about now,” Lawrence told PEOPLE at the “An Evening with Shrinking at PaleyLive” event. “And Michael J. Fox is my first mentor. So we wanted to represent it in hopefully an inspiring and not sad or tragic way.”

Lawrence explained that for the show’s upcoming season, he became “obsessed with showing the portrait of living with it.” 

“I found the first mentor in my life and career, Michael J. Fox, to be so inspiring with the way he took it in stride and continues to work harder than anybody I know,” he said. “And we want to kind of carry that spirit if we can into the show.”

As for Segel, he told PEOPLE at the Shrinking FYC Event that the cast and crew feel “this burden of responsibility,” adding, “We’re dealing with mental health issues, in addition to the Parkinson’s [diagnosis], to try to get these things right.” 

“And even where we get close to the line on things, we want the characters to acknowledge we’re close to the line or that we’ve crossed a line so that everything is handled with care and responsibility,” he continued. “The Parkinson’s storyline is so tender and it also I think is really helpful to people who are dealing with something so serious that we are able to find.” 

“When you watch Harrison Ford deal with Parkinson’s in the show, he’s acknowledging it in its full humanity. He’s frustrated, but he also makes jokes about it and he also sees what’s coming and is trying to figure out how to deal with it. And so I think as opposed to only presenting the grave aspects of it, to present it in its full humanity has been something we’re really interested in.”

Seasons 1 and 2 of Shrinking can be streamed on Apple TV+.