Michael J Fox
He speaks openly about his career and his illness
Available May 12, 2023: Michael J. Fox in the documentary Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie.
©AppleTV+
He bravely shows his life with Parkinson’s: In the new documentary “Still”, fans get an insight into the world of actor Michael J. Fox.
The film trilogy “Back to the Future” and the sitcom “Family Ties” made him a big star in Hollywood in the 80s: Michael J. Fox (61). In the new documentary “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie”, which starts on Apple TV+ on May 12, 2023, fans get a personal and very private insight into the extraordinary life of the actor.
Michael J. Fox: Insights into his private life
The focus of the documentary by Oscar winner Davis Guggenheim (59) is Fox’s career, his family – and his life with Parkinson’s disease. The film consists of several elements. On the one hand, director Guggenheim uses archive material from Michael J. Fox’s film career. On the other hand, he conducted a long, personal interview with the actor for the film, which forms the framework of the documentary. Other scenes feature documentary elements from the star’s current life. Among other things, there are shots of Fox and his family and a scene showing him falling in the street after a woman greets him and he wants to turn to her.
Before “Family Ties” he was broke
The documentary not only shows his current state of health, but also looks at the beginning of his career, when he became a crowd pleaser as Alex P. Keaton in the series “Family Ties”, although his role was planned more as a supporting character. He was completely broke when he was cast on the sitcom. “I lived on packets of jam,” says Fox.
When he was cast in “Back to the Future,” he suddenly had two jobs that he had to balance. Chauffeurs drove him from one film set to another. Some days he only slept two to three hours. “Sometimes I wasn’t sure which set I was on and who I was impersonating.” Stress that, as everyone knows today, was worth it: Marty McFly made him world famous. From then on, Fox was one of the most sought-after faces in Hollywood.
That’s why he didn’t want to keep his illness a secret
Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at the age of 29 – at the peak of his career. The symptoms: tremors that make it difficult to control movement, speech, and gait. In the beginning he took refuge in alcohol and took many pills to hide the disease from the public, the 61-year-old tells in “Still”. It was like a liberation when he made the illness public in 1998. “It’s mostly the things you want to hide from the world that make you sick.”
When asked what being quiet meant to him, Michael J. Fox said he had never been quiet. All those years of hiding would have roused him. He realized that “denying that part of me that wanted to keep going” felt like giving up.
This helps him deal with the disease
Ahead of the documentary’s release, he gave host Jane Pauley on the “CBS Sunday Morning” show a big interview in which he spoke openly to her about his illness. For him, Parkinson’s is a gift, but he doesn’t want to lie: “It’s getting hard … it’s getting harder every day.” Falling in everyday life is “the big killer”.
He has suffered various broken bones over the years: “I broke this elbow, I broke my face, I broke my hand.” He knew that he would probably not live to be 80 years old. “You don’t die of Parkinson’s. You die with Parkinson’s,” Fox said on the TV show.
But Michael J. Fox wouldn’t be Michael J. Fox if he didn’t do everything he could to make the best of his situation. With the help of his foundation, $1.5 billion has already flowed into research into Parkinson’s disease. Just in April, the scientists had a major success: a new technique that could help diagnose the disease before symptoms appear. For himself, the actor has developed a repertoire of skills that help him deal with his deteriorating health: his secrets are gratitude and optimism.
In the new Apple TV documentary, he says, “If I’m still here in 20 years, I’ll either be cured or like a pickle.”