Jessica Williams Reveals Harrison Ford Picked Sugar Ray Song to Sing on ‘Shrinking’
Harrison Ford was one of the last major movie stars to avoid doing television, but 2023 has seen him jump onto the small screen in a major way. In addition to starring alongside Helen Mirren in the “Yellowstone” prequel “1923,” he’s also taken on his first sitcom role in “Shrinking.” The therapy comedy gives Ford plenty of opportunities to show off his brand of curmudgeonly humor, but he also plays against type in several heartfelt moments — including a scene where he sings the Sugar Ray song “Every Morning” in the car alongside his co-star Jessica Williams.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Williams opened up about the surreal experience of singing carpool karaoke with Ford — and revealed the actor’s role in planning the scene.
“Oh, it was really fun — Sugar Ray with Harrison in the car,” Williams said. “They asked me for a list of songs and a lot of the songs I chose [were] from when we were in middle school growing up in the South Bay. Sugar Ray was definitely up there. I had other ones — ‘Fat Lip’ by Sum 41, ‘Absolutely’ by Nine Days, Michelle Branch ‘Everywhere,’ Avril Lavigne’s ‘Complicated,’ No Doubt’s ‘Just a Girl.'”
While Williams provided the initial suggestions, she made it very clear that Ford has the final say on the “Shrinking” set. The legendary actor picked a song from her list (apparently Indiana Jones is a Sugar Ray fan!) and did his homework to prepare. Williams said she wasn’t sure what to expect from the scene, but Ford showed up ready to deliver an enthusiastic performance.
“He tells us what he is willing to do,” she said. “Yes, absolutely. But we didn’t know if he would know the lines or not, and he showed up knowing every single word. So, that was a blast doing that with him. Very surreal.”
While early “Shrinking” reviews have been mixed, Ford’s performance on the Apple TV+ show has been overwhelmingly praised by fans and critics.
“He’s meant to be the chilly chaser to Jimmy’s sugary shot, but Paul ends up balancing out the whole show,” IndieWire’s Ben Travers wrote in his “Shrinking” review. “Without Ford, ‘Shrinking’ may have been unbearable, but with him, I ended up happily revisiting episodes just to enjoy the actor’s spark.”
“Shrinking” is now streaming on Apple TV+, with new episodes dropping each week.