Michael J Fox on why he wants to tell his story in documentary preview
The Back to the Future star explores his battle with Parkinson's disease in new film Still: A Michael J Fox Movie.
Tomorrow marks the release of the new documentary Still on Apple TV+, which sees Back to the Future star Michael J Fox discuss his life and battle with Parkinson's disease.
Fox was diagnosed with the illness while he was still in his late twenties, and in a new preview clip exclusive to RadioTimes.com, the actor explains why he is choosing to tell his story at this time.
By entering your details, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.
"My world is getting smaller," he responds when asked why now was the right time. "I love my mind and I love the places it takes me and I just don't want that to get cut short."
He is then asked if there might be a moment – perhaps 20 years from now – when he is no longer able to tell his story.
He responds: "Well if I'm here 20 years from now I'll either be cured or like a pickle." You can watch the clip in full below:
Speaking in the film's press notes Fox explained that although the disease is incurable, it "still doesn't scare me".
"When I was younger, I fought the idea," he said. "When the doctor first told me, I said, 'That isn’t going to happen to me.' Good things happened to me. But then this bad thing did. The first 10 years or so, I got locked in that place, a good place, by not allowing anyone else to define my reaction to it."
He added: "Parkinson’s didn’t just kick me out of the house; it burned the f**king house down. It went after me really hard. The way I dealt with it was not to pay attention to it.
"In the last three years, I broke both femurs. I had one shoulder replaced. I broke my face. I broke my hand. I broke a lot of stuff. I realised, I could die from this, which does freak me out. But I can deal with it if it comes up. My biggest fear is to become incurious."
Read more:
- Arnold Schwarzenegger documentary is coming to Netflix
- Queen Cleopatra star hopes casting will inspire young girls of colour
The film is directed by Oscar-winning director Davis Guggenheim, whose past work includes An Inconvenient Truth, Waiting for "Superman" and He Named Me Malala.
Its official synopsis reads: "A short kid from a Canadian army base becomes the international pop culture darling of the 1980s, only to find the course of his life altered by a stunning diagnosis.
"The actor who is an incurable optimist is forced to confront an incurable disease."
Still: A Michael J Fox Movie will be in select cinemas and streaming globally on Apple TV+ on Friday 12th May – you can sign up to Apple TV+ here.
Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight.
Try Radio Times magazine today and get 12 issues for only £1 with delivery to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.