Michael J. Fox is living life to its fullest.
The “Back to the Future” star is set to return to the screen after five years in retirement with his most personal role yet in the upcoming season of “Shrinking.” After battling Parkinson’s disease since 1991, Fox admitted he lives life “on the edge of my energy.”
“I just feel I have to,” he told USA Today. “It’s a tradeoff. I want to be around for everything.”
“I want to be active at everything, keep working, keep my partnerships going, my good friends, and enjoy my time with my family,” he added. “And it’s all good; it’s so much better than it could be.”
MICHAEL J. FOX DOESN’T WANT A ‘DRAMATIC’ DEATH AFTER BATTLING PARKINSON’S FOR 35 YEARS
Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative brain disorder, affects the nervous system and mobility, according to the Mayo Clinic. Throughout much of his prolific acting career, Fox has had to find ways to work around his symptoms. However, he has landed his first role where he doesn’t have to worry about his disease.
Fox filmed a three-episode guest arc for the third season of “Shrinking,” and his character suffers from Parkinson’s disease.
“It was the first time ever I get to show up on-set, and I didn’t have to worry about am I too tired or coughing or anything,” he told People. “I just do it. It was really good, because for the moments when I say, ‘I’m not going to be able to do this,’ then I say, ‘Well, I’ll just deal with how I can’t do it in the scene.’ And you get through it.”
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The actor was watching “Shrinking” when he realized one character, portrayed by Harrison Ford, had Parkinson’s disease. He said he called up the show’s co-creator Bill Lawrence, who he worked with on “Spin City.”
“I said, ‘You did a show about Parkinson’s, and you didn’t call me?’ And he said, ‘Oh, you want to do it?’ And I said, ‘I’d love to do it,’” Fox recalled.
“So he said, ‘Let me think about it, see what I can do.’ So he went to work on it and came up with this concept, it’s really good.”
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Fox’s return to acting comes after a five-year hiatus as he began his retirement. The “Family Ties” star opened up about his future with the “mysterious” disease, which he was first diagnosed with at age 29, in an interview with The Times.
“There’s no timeline, there’s no series of stages that you go through – not in the same way that you would, say, with prostate cancer. It’s much more mysterious and enigmatic,” he explained.
“There are not many people who have had Parkinson’s for 35 years,” Fox continued. “I’d like to just not wake up one day. That’d be really cool. I don’t want it to be dramatic. I don’t want to trip over furniture, smash my head.”