Working On Shrinking Showed Jason Segel That Harrison Ford Is A ‘Comedy Savant’

In a promotional featurette for “Shrinking”, Segel said that when Ford signed on he “thought it was a joke, it seemed unreal”. That was probably a lot of people’s reaction, because Ford isn’t necessarily the person you’d expect to appear alongside the “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” or “I Love You, Man” star. But as his recent performance on HBO’s “Winning Time” proves, Segel is perfectly capable of delivering the drama. And it turns out that the curmudgeonly Ford is perfectly capable of making people laugh.

Speaking 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 quite quickly how funny he could be:

“Harrison Ford is funny! He’s like a comedy savant […] It shows you how limited we all are by our own imaginations, but this guy knew what he was capable of and wanted to show it.”

That sentiment was echoed by Goldstein, who told The Hollywood Reporter that Ford was “f****** excited to be funny,” Lawrence adding:

“Initially, your thought is, ‘OK, you’re going to write gruff Harrison Ford and everyone will do comedy around him, and he’ll respond gruffly to people who are funny. In a few episodes, you’re like, “Oh, he’s making moves.” For example, Harrison Ford is here to do comedy, not to react to comedy.”