Michael J. Fox is opening up about how going public with his battle with Parkinson’s has affected not only him, but his loved ones.
As part of the third annual Social Impact Summit, hosted by The Hollywood Reporter and Social Impact Fund, the 65-year-old actor went into detail about why he chose to go public with his Parkinson’s diagnosis and the toll that decision had and continues to have on his family, particularly his wife, Tracy Pollan.
“It was hell on Tracy. It was really hard on her — and it still is, because it’s always changing,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “But I said to her, ‘I have to go all the way here. No half measures.’
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“I started to understand what it was like for these people who didn’t have the options or the choices I had, didn’t have the connections and the reason to be optimistic … I needed to normalize it and just be that all the time. I said, ‘I have to not hide this. F— vanity.’”
The actor was first diagnosed with the degenerative disease in 1991 at the age of 29, keeping his diagnosis a secret for seven years, before going public in 1998 during the third season of his hit show, “Spin City.”
After one more season on the show, Fox chose to retire from acting to devote his time to advocacy and raising money for Parkinson’s disease. It was then that he founded The Michael J. Fox Foundation in 2000, which is dedicated to finding a cure.
Since its inception, the foundation has generated more than $3 billion for research, which has left Fox and Deborah W. Brooks, co-Founder and CEO of the foundation, optimistic about where the research is headed.
WATCH: Co-founder of The Michael J. Fox Foundation is proud of what they have achieved
“Well, it’s been the best state for Parkinson’s research ever,” Brooks said. “And, in large part, so much of that progress has taken place in the course of our organization’s existence. Not that we’re responsible for everything, but we’ve scaled so significantly and have been able to activate scientists globally. And that is showing in the results and the pace of progress across our field.
“We have now committed over $3 billion worth of research worldwide, and, so, we’re working with scientists everywhere, and we work with academics, biotechs and pharma. Our goal is to take aha moments and get them to the drugstore shelf.
“And, so, it’s been that momentum and particularly a recent breakthrough in how we can detect Parkinson’s even before symptoms are the kind of things that tell us. We are onto it, and we are not giving up.”
Brooks credits Fox for his “courage and willingness to live his Parkinson’s experience in front of the world,” calling it “empowering for patients who face similar experiences in reducing stigma.”
She also recalled her first board meeting at the foundation, noting it was clear Fox was not one to “just to put his name on something and hope for the best,” and that his goal has always been “to do everything it took and get this done and close our doors.”
WATCH: Deborah W. Brooks commends Michael J. Fox for his ‘courage’ to live openly with Parkinson’s
“His purity of motive has been core to helping us think what we’re going to prioritize. It shapes our values in terms of speed. Something like trying to cure diseases, that’s not a time-neutral agenda item for people who have degenerative and progressive disease. And, so, I think, you know, this notion that someone puts their voice out or lends their name, it’s always been deeper than that for him.
“And I see that a lot more in philanthropy in general today, but it has been a game changer. For raising awareness, of course, but it’s also been a game changer to put those values to work in our mission to cure Parkinson’s disease.”
Brooks has seen firsthand how Fox’s decision to go public with his diagnosis has helped others, saying she gets emotional thinking about his interactions with other patients.
“It is so powerful, an experience to be seen and felt when you share the experience of Parkinson’s disease,” she said.
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While the “Back to the Future” star initially retired from acting in 1998, he returned in his first major on-screen role in 2004 for a guest appearance in “Scrubs,” later starring in “The Good Wife,” “Boston Legal” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
“It’s really prolonged my life and made my life interesting in a way that I didn’t think it would be to this point,” Fox told The Hollywood Reporter. “I’m not retired from acting, but if I didn’t act again, it would be for a very good reason. I let Parkinson’s make decisions for me.”
WATCH: Deborah W. Brooks gets choked up when thinking of Michael J. Fox interacting with patients
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Most recently, Fox received an Emmy nomination for his guest role on the hit Apple TV+ show, “Shrinking,” in which he played a man dealing with Parkinson’s who meets Harrison Ford’s character, who has also been diagnosed with the disease, in a doctor’s office.
“He was happy that I was sharing my experience with him as a character and helping him do what he needed to do,” Fox explained. “He was so loving. I didn’t know what to expect with Harrison because he’s famously a stoic, curmudgeonly guy, and he’s really a sweetheart. He was so affectionate to me and so welcoming to me.”
Fox and Brooks received the Philanthropic Organization of the Year award at this year’s Social Impact Summit. Other honorees included John Mayer, who received the Philanthropist of the Year Award, and Stephen Curry and Ayesha Curry, who received the Philanthropists of the Year Award.
