In a promo featurette for “Shrinking,” Segel said that when Ford signed on, he, “thought it was a practical joke, it seemed unreal.” That was likely many people’s reaction, as Ford isn’t necessarily who you’d expect to appear alongside the star of “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” or “I Love You, Man.” But as his recent performance in HBO’s “Winning Time” proves, Segel is perfectly capable of delivering the drama. And as it turns out, the curmudgeonly Ford is perfectly capable of delivering the laughs.
Talking to Moviefone, Segel said he and his co-creators, “underestimated how funny Harrison Ford was” and that while they planned to write him as “the gruff straight man” he actually proved pretty quickly how funny he could be:
“Harrison Ford is funny! He’s like a comedy savant […] It just goes to show you how we all are limited by our own imaginations, but this guy knew what he was capable of doing and wanted to show it off.”
That sentiment was echoed by Goldstein, who told The Hollywood Reporter that Ford was “f****** excited to be funny” with Lawrence adding:
“Initially, your thought is, ‘OK, you’re gonna write Harrison Ford gruff and everyone will do comedy around him, and he will respond, gruffly, to people being funny.’ A couple of episodes in, you’re like, ‘Oh, he’s doing moves.’ Like, Harrison Ford’s here to make comedy, not to react to comedy.”