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Actor Harrison Ford has earned his first ever primetime nomination, achieving a career milestone at the age of 83. This recognition comes for his role as Dr. Paul Rhoades in the Apple TV+ comedy series Shrinking, where he plays a senior therapist and mentor to Jason Segel's character, Jimmy Laird. The nomination which comes two days after his birthday, put him in the running for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series.
This is Ford's first Emmy Nod despite an acting career spanning over five decades. It marks a long-awaited acknowledgment by the Television Academy. He becomes the second oldest nominee in the category's history after Alan Arkin who was nominated at the age of 86 in 2020 for The Kominsky Method.
Shrinking which was co-created by Brett Goldstein, Bill Lawrence and Jason Segel debuted in 2023 and returned for its second season this year. It received four Emmy nominations in total including Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actor for Segel and Outstanding Supporting Actress for Jessica Williams.
Ford's portrayal of Dr. Rhoades, a blunt yet endearing therapist living with Parkinson's disease, has received critical acclaim. The character's journey was deeply personal for the show's creators, both of whom have fathers diagnosed with the illness. Ford explained that "there's no intention to make it into a joke." He added, "This is a person particularly equipped to communicate what it is that it's like and that is something that I feel that is worth sharing with our audience."
Ford's performance had previously gone unrecognized by the Emmys, which made many fans view it as a snub. He had already earned a nomination at the 2025 Golden Globes and at the Screen Actors Guild Awards earlier this year for his work on Shrinking. However, he did not win either.
His competition in the Emmy category includes Shrinking co-star Michael Urie, Ike Barinholtz (The Studio), Colman Domingo (The Four Seasons), Jeff Hiller (Somebody Somewhere), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Bear), and Bowen Yang (Saturday Night Live).
While Ford has famously portrayed iconic film characters such as Indiana Jones and Han Solo, his television work has been minimal. His role in 1923, a prequel to Yellowstone, was also in the Emmy conversation this year but did not receive any major acting nominations. The series did, however, earn nods for Outstanding Production Design and Period Costumes.
Throughout his storied career, Ford has received limited recognition from major awards bodies. He earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for Witness (1985), and has been honoured with lifetime achievement awards, including the 2002 Cecil B. DeMille Award and the 2024 Critics Choice Lifetime Achievement Award.
The 77th Emmy Awards will be aired by CBS on September 14. If Ford wins, it would mark the first Emmy win of his illustrious career.
