Michael J. Fox Shares Struggle With Parkinson's Disease in Revealing Documentary
The new trailer has been released for the documentary Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie and it depicts the veteran actor’s legacy through photos and archival footage from his films, interviews, and sets. The Oscar-winning director, Davis Guggenheim has portrayed Fox’s story from his childhood to his phenomenal Hollywood success in the ’80s, and his unending battle with Parkinson’s disease after being diagnosed at 29.
According to Hollywood Reporter, the trailer was released on Thursday and it showcased Fox recalling the moment he first discovered the nerve-damaging Parkinson’s disease symptoms. He woke up one morning and noticed his pinky finger was “auto-animated.” He revealed how he desperately tried to hide it from the world during the height of his career but recalled that “all those years of hiding was shaking me awake.” He said, “To deny that part of me that wants to continue to go on and do things is to quit,” he said in the trailer. “This is what I am. I’m a tough son of a b***h.”
The documentary also features clips from his iconic career journey including Family Ties to Teen Wolf and Back to the Future, as well as exclusive footage from significant moments throughout his personal life. Director Davis Guggenheim briefs that the “sad sack story is that Michael J. Fox gets this debilitating disease and it crushes him.” In response, the legendary star says: “Yeah, that’s boring.” According to Independent, Apple TV+ describes the film as Fox's “extraordinary story in his own words” and will incorporate documentary, archival and scripted elements.
In January, at the Hollywood Reporter Studio at Sundance Film Festival, Fox had given an insight into the project mentioning that he had given Guggenheim total creative freedom with the movie and didn’t want to censor any of the film’s source material. “I was surprised, pretty early on, [the legal team] came to me and they said, ‘You can put in the contract that you have three things you can strike.’ And I said, ‘No! Just go shoot the movie. Make the movie,'” he explained. “It’s not a movie about me getting three things that you can’t say about me. It’s a movie about my life, and if we’re going to be real about it, let the filmmakers have access to that.”
CBR reported that at this year's Sundance Film Festival in January, where Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie originally premiered, Fox and Guggenheim discussed the film and Fox's self-admitted retirement plans. Fox had previously announced that he would be retiring in 2020 due to difficulties with his speech. His final acting role was in the Canadian animated film Back Home Again in 2021. However, the iconic actor commented at Sundance that he may not be out of the spotlight forever. "How can you miss me if I won't go away?" Fox asked. "I'm not going anywhere, unfortunately."
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie premieres May 12 on Apple TV+.
