Michael J Fox admits he was such a ‘jerk’ when he found fame people wanted to slap him
Despite being hero-worshipped for his Parkinson’s battle and fundraising for research into the disease, Michael J Fox has admitted he was such a “jerk” when he found fame the people around him would have wanted to give him a slap.
Michael J Fox has admitted he was a “jerk” when he found fame.
The Parkinson’s-stricken ‘Back to the Future’ and ‘Spin City’ star, 61, said even though it is “nice” people now think of him as a hero for his battle against, and fundraising for research into, the disease, his behaviour when he hit the big time was so out of order the people around him wanted to give him a slap.
He said in a cover interview for next week’s issue of Variety magazine, out Wednesday 17 May: “I was a jerk. You just want to slap me. You just want to go, ‘Shut up, sit down, have a Diet Coke and relax and sit in the corner.”
He humbly added about people now thinking he’s heroic: “It’s just a nice way of people letting me know they are moved by my acceptance of things and by the way that I’ve tried to make a difference.
“But no matter how much I sit here and talk to you about how I’ve philosophically accepted it and taken its weight, Parkinson’s is still kicking my a**. I won’t win at this. I will lose.”
Michael, who has four children with his wife, Tracy Pollan, 62, credits his loved ones for pulling him through times, adding about how he has managed not to sink into depression: “My family. My family pulled me out.”
Michael, who retired from acting in 2020, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1991 – the year after ‘Back to the Future Part III’ was released – and his symptoms include involuntary shaking, slow movement, as well as stiff and inflexible muscles.
Despite admitting he is realistic about the fact he will “lose” his fight against Parkinson’s, he said about remaining optimistic: “I’m still happy to join the day and be a part of things. I just enjoy the little math problems of existence.
“I love waking up and figuring that stuff out and at the same time being with my family.
“My problem is I fall down. I trip over things and fall down and break things. And that’s part of having this.
“But I hope that, and I feel that, I won’t break as many bones tomorrow. So that’s being optimistic.”
