Michael J. Fox Inspired How Parkinson’s Is Depicted on Shrinking, Says Creator: ‘Not Sad or Tragic Way’ (Exclusive)

Bill Lawrence found inspiration for Shrinking from Michael J. Fox and his journey with Parkinson’s.

The Shrinking co-creator revealed to PEOPLE that Fox’s public Parkinson’s diagnosis helped shaped Harrison Ford’s character Paul in the series. In the AppleTV+ show, Ford plays a therapist who is navigating his Parkinson’s diagnosis as he continues to practice mental health therapy.

At the Dec. 12 “An Evening with Shrinking at PaleyLive” event, Lawrence, 55, told PEOPLE that he and co-creator Brett Goldstein both have a “deep history” with the disease, citing how both their fathers have Parkinson’s.

Parkinson’s is “a brain disorder that causes unintended or uncontrollable movements, such as shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination,” per the National Institute of Aging.

“It’s cool to get to write about things you care about now,” he said. “And Michael J. Fox is my first mentor. So we wanted to represent it in hopefully an inspiring and not sad or tragic way.”

Fox, 63, starred in the first show Lawrence co-created: Spin City. During the series’ six-season run from 1996–2002, Fox publicly revealed his Parkinson’s diagnosis in 1998.

Lawrence explained that for the upcoming third 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.”

Lawrence confessed he “generally has kind of attacked tough situations with comedy in his actual life,” noting, “It takes you a while as a writer to realize what your voice is — I think mine is hopeful and optimistic by nature.”

“I suck in the inspiring people around me, and I steal from them as much as I possibly can,” he added before crediting Fox as the first collaborator he pulled from.

Lawrence also noted that audiences’ reaction to the series’ uplifting tone “means the world to [him] that people find it emotionally affecting and uplifting.”

Shrinking stars Jason Segel as single dad Jimmy Laird grieving the sudden loss of his wife as he navigates his friendships with his boss Paul, coworker Gaby (Jessica Williams), friend Brian (Michael Urie) and neighbors Liz (Christa Miller) and Derek (Ted McGinley).

Ford also spoke with PEOPLE at the Dec. 12 event and explained that he takes the responsibility of telling the story about someone diagnosed with Parkinson’s “deadly f—ing seriously.”

“There are people that absorb these kinds of experiences with grace and courage and a little bit of wisdom,” he said. “It’s just to say that this is a person particularly equipped to communicate what it’s like, and that is something that I feel that is worth sharing with our audience.”

“I feel like I’m telling a story,” Ford explained. “The story I’m telling is a story that I know, and so I can just simply feel it.”