Michael J. Fox continues to share candid details about his decades-long battle with Parkinson’s disease.
The actor, who is the subject of the upcoming documentary Still: A Michael J. Fox Moviespoke to Jane Pauley for one CBS Sunday morning interview aired Sunday. Preview clips from the sit-down show the 61-year-old Back to the future star describing the challenges he has faced as a result of the disease.
“I’m not going to lie, it’s getting harder and harder,” Fox said of living with Parkinson’s. “It is getting more and more difficult. Every day gets harder. But that’s how it is. I mean, who do I see about that?”
The actor, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at the age of 29, discussed having undergone spinal surgery for a benign tumor and explained that the procedure affected his walking. He said he fell as a result and suffered numerous injuries, including breaking both arms, a hand and facial bones.
Fox said that falling “is a major killer in Parkinson’s. Falling and sucking up food and getting pneumonia – all these subtle ways to get you. You don’t die of Parkinson’s; you die of Parkinson’s. So I’ve been thinking about its mortality. I’m not going to be 80. I’m not going to be 80.”
Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim directed Still, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and celebrates the life of Fox through interviews, photos and archival footage. In his review for The Hollywood Reporterlead TV reviewer Daniel Fienberg praised the feature film’s “tight focus and signature style”, writing that it “captures the essence of Fox’s energy and cross-generational appeal”.
During a visit to the THR Studio at Sundance in January, Fox explained that he didn’t want to put any restrictions on the footage Guggenheim felt compelled to include. Fox said at the time, “It’s a movie about my life, and if we really want to be about it, let the filmmakers have access to that.”
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie will be available on Apple TV+ starting May 12.
