Michael J. Fox and Harrison Ford are teaming up again - this time off-screen - for a new public service video aimed at helping people support a friend or loved one diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
The video, titled "So... Your Friend Has Parkinson's," was released Sept. 2 by The Michael J. Fox Foundation in partnership with Maximum Effort, the entertainment company founded by foundation board member Ryan Reynolds. In it, Fox offers Ford - playfully cast as the "friend" learning the ropes - a simple set of guidelines for how to show up for someone facing the disease.
"People worry so much about saying the wrong thing that they stop saying anything," Fox says in the video.
By the end, Ford repeats the advice back: "Don't make it weird. Start simple. Help, don't fix. Keep showing up." Fox then jokingly declares Ford "officially qualified to be a friend."
The pairing builds on the real-life bond the two actors formed filming Apple TV+'s "Shrinking," where Ford plays a therapist living with Parkinson's and Fox guest stars as a fellow patient who becomes his mentor and friend. Fox, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 1991 at age 29, has spent over two decades turning his own diagnosis into a platform for hope, raising billions of dollars for research through his foundation.
At its heart, the video's message reflects a truth worth remembering far beyond Parkinson's: love isn't complicated, and presence matters more than perfect words. Sometimes the most faithful thing a person can do for someone hurting is simply not leave.
