Harrison Ford still steps up for ‘essential human contact’

At the age of 82, Harrison Ford is glad he continued acting because it provides him with “essential human contact.”

“I can imagine that people with a lot of skills and experience…. It’s fun working with these people,” Ford said recently interview with VanityFair when asked what prompted him to appear in “Shrinking.”

Ford, who is known for his roles as Han Solo and Indiana Jones in the “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” franchises, stars alongside Jason Segel and Jessica Williams in the Apple TV+ series.

Ford plays Dr. Paul Rhoades, a senior therapist who is also a colleague of Jimmy (Segel) in the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Center.

He also talked about his approach to playing Han Solo. “He was a character dedicated to his ignorance,” Ford said. “Deeply committed to his ignorance. But if he lacked a sense of humor, it wouldn’t have been fun for the audience. I saw that [run] as physical acting that conveyed character information. I always felt that he could barely control his physical impulses.”

In the interview, Ford said that despite his roles in high-intensity action thrillers, he finds much of the work he has done as an actor over the course of his career to be quite comedic in nature and tone.

“I’m a foolish person,” Ford told Anthony Breznican. “As far as I’m concerned, all I’ve ever done is comedy.”

“I think about a joke in the same actor’s mind as I think about a serious or emotional scene,” Ford said.

“Shrinking” co-creator Bill Lawrence said in the interview that Ford’s willingness to dedicate himself wholeheartedly to the piece was key to the role.

“I’ll give you an example,” Lawrence told Vanity. Honestly. “The joke in the show is that Harrison’s character didn’t know what the word ‘raw-dogging’ meant. And Harrison, rightly, initially thought, “Eh, is that going to be funny? Or does that just make me the image of an old man who is out of touch?’ [He was] still cool enough to let us try it, and it got such laughs from the crew that his character constantly used it the wrong way.

“Shrinking” returns for its second season on Apple TV+ on Wednesday.