Michael J. Fox Says His Battle with Parkinson’s Is Getting Harder: ‘I’m Not Going to Be 80’

30 April 2023

Michael J. Fox is getting brutally honest about his struggles with Parkinson’s disease.

In a new interview with CBS Sunday Morning to promote his upcoming Apple TV+ documentary “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” the actor revealed that the degenerative disease has begun to take a larger toll on him after 30 years of living with it.

“I’m not gonna lie, it’s getting harder,” Fox said. “It’s getting tougher. Every day gets tougher. But that’s the way it is.”

Fox explained that his recent struggles have prompted him to think more about his own mortality. He said that he has begun to accept that the disease could cause a fatal accident at any time.

“Falling and aspirating food and getting pneumonia — all these subtle ways that get you,” he said. “You don’t die from Parkinson’s, you die with Parkinson’s. So I’ve been thinking of the mortality of it. I’m not going to be 80.”

Despite the adversity he faces, the documentary features multiple examples of Fox showing off the sense of humor that made him a star. Fox said that his ability to keep laughing has helped him maintain a relatively positive outlook on life.

“I recognize how hard this is for people,” he said of the disease. “I recognize how hard it is for me. But I have a certain set of skills that allow me to deal with this stuff. And I realize with gratitude, optimism is sustainable. If you can find something to be grateful for, you can find something to look forward to.”

“Still” serves as the most definitive document of Fox’s career and Parkinson’s diagnosis to date. The film, which was directed by “An Inconvenient Truth” helmer Davis Guggenheim, became a Sundance hit for its ability to blend honesty and nostalgia.

“At its most basic level, ‘Still’ tracks the arc of Fox’s career from small-for-his-age kid in Canada who drops out of high school to the biggest star in Hollywood, and how that shifts when he learns he has Parkinson’s before the age of 30,” Esther Zuckerman wrote in her IndieWire review of the film. “Fox’s voice dominates the doc, and he is the only talking head to appear. Occasionally, Guggenheim will interject to pose a question to Fox about his mental or physical state, but for the most part this is Fox’s story in Fox’s words.”

“Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” begins streaming on Apple TV+ on Friday, May 12. 

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