According to Deadline, Bill Lawrence (Ted Lasso) explains how his mentor, Michael J. Fox (Back to the Future), influenced the Apple TV+ series Shrinking. Lawrence opened up about the series and how he and co-creator Brett Goldstein (All of You) influenced it, as both their fathers have Parkinson’s disease. Lawrence spoke with People about how much they cared about the topic in the series.

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

He added, “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. And we want to kind of carry that spirit if we can into the show.”

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

While citing Fox as one of the people who inspired him, Lawrence said, “I suck in the inspiring people around me, and I steal from them as much as I possibly can.”

As per Deadline, Lawrence told them he was unsure when or how to approach Harrison Ford’s (BladeRunner) character, Dr. Paul Rhoades’s inevitable death.

“I’m saying this honestly, we’re just now writing a third season. I don’t know if I could stomach having to see that, and I haven’t decided yet,” said Lawrence. “I will tell you this: what we really care about, Brett and me, both with our family connections to Parkinson’s, is an accurate and inspiring representation of what people that have to deal with that s— go through, and what it means moving forward. I think that will be touching and hard to watch, and if I knew where it ended, I wouldn’t tell you, but I can be honest and say I don’t know where it ends yet.”

Shrinking is available to stream on Apple TV+.