Michael J. Fox has opened up about his wife's touching reaction after he found out he had Parkinson's disease.
The Back To The Future star, 61, has spoken out about his blockbuster career and his personal life in his upcoming documentary, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie.
The trailer for the film has been released, in which the actor details his health struggles in recent years and how he began to notice the signs of Parkinson's.
Fox was diagnosed in 1991 and revealed it publicly in 1998, but continued acting for years to come.
In the clip, Fox opened up about the first time he noticed something wasn't right with his health, which eventually led to his diagnosis.
He revealed that he woke up one morning to find his pinky finger was twitching uncontrollably, describing it as 'auto-animated'.
Fox recalled telling his wife Tracy Pollan about the diagnosis and shared her sweet response.
He said in the trailer: "I told Tracy the news. 'In sickness and in health,' I remember her whispering,"
"No-one outside of my family knew," he added, admitting he took pills to "hide" the condition. "But all those years of hiding was shaking me awake.
"To deny that part of me that wants to continue to go on and do things is to quit. So this is who I am, I'm a tough son of a b****."
The trailer, shot by Davis Guggenheim, ends with the director saying from off-camera: "The sad sack story is: Michael J. Fox gets this debilitating disease and it crushes him," to which Fox quips: "Yeah, that's boring."
The actor has used his platform to raise awareness for Parkinson's since going public with his diagnosis, including setting up The Michael J. Fox Foundation.
He previously revealed that while the condition "sucks", he refuses to wallow in pity, adding: "I can feel sorry for myself, but I don't have time for that."
Fox said during a panel at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival, that he "didn't have a choice" but to "mobilize" people to care about Parkinson's.
He said, as cited by PEOPLE: "I didn't have a choice. This is it. I have to give everything I have, and it's not lip service. I show up and do the best I can.
"Pity is a benign form of abuse. I can feel sorry for myself, but I don't have time for that. There is stuff to be learned from this, so let's do that and move on."
He added: "Parkinson's sucks, but it's a great life, so thank you for it. I have no regrets."
While he carried on working for years after going public with his diagnosis, Fox did eventually step away from acting, explaining: "You do what you have to do, but you do not want to kill yourself. And that's when I stopped."
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, will stream on Apple TV+ from May 12.
Featured image credit: Erik Pendzich / Alamy
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