Michael J. Fox Says Parkinson’s ‘Sucks,’ But He’s Having a ‘Good Life’

Celebrities

By Nika Shakhnazarova

March 15, 2023 | 10:16 a.m.

Michael J. Fox is grateful for the life he leads, even if it means battling Parkinson’s disease for decades.

The “Back to the Future” star opened up about his condition on Tuesday while promoting his new documentary, “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas.

“Parkinson’s sucks, but it’s a good life,” said Fox, 61, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at age 29 in 1991.

“I have no regrets,” he said, sitting alongside the director of his new film, Davis Guggenheim, 59, famous for Oscar-winning ‘An Inconvenient Truth’.

“You do what you have to do, but you don’t want to kill yourself. And that’s where I stopped. »

When asked how he “mobilized” people to become aware of the degenerative central nervous system disorder, Fox said he “just had no choice.”

“That’s it,” he said during a Q&A about the film, which will premiere later this year on Apple TV+. “I have to give everything I have, and it’s not lip service. I show up and do the best I can.

“Pity is a mild form of abuse,” the actor continued. “I can feel sorry for myself, but I don’t have time for that.”

“There are things to learn from this, so let’s do this and move on,” he added.

The Canadian-born actor thanked his fans for their support throughout his career, saying, “My fans basically gave me my life.”

“I wanted to give these people who have done so much for me my time and my gratitude,” he added. “It was great for me to hear from you.”

In 2000, Fox opened the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Disease Research – a move that has helped many find the help and support they needed throughout their respective battles with Parkinson’s disease. disease.

He revealed his medical battle in 1998 after the paparazzi “heckled” him into doing it.

In 2021, Fox opened up to “Entertainment Tonight” about how the paparazzi forced him to come out with his diagnosis to the public.

“It was seven or eight years after I was diagnosed… [and] the paparazzi and all that, they were standing outside my apartment and heckling me, like, ‘What’s going on with you?’ “, explained Fox.

“I said, ‘I can’t make my neighbors deal with this’, so I went out and it was great. It was a good thing.

“It was a big surprise to me that people reacted the way they reacted,” Fox continued.

“They responded with interest, wanting to find an answer to the disease, and then I saw it as a great opportunity. I didn’t put myself in this position to waste it.