Michael J. Fox Wouldn't Ask God to Change Parkinson's Disease if Given Chance
Michael J. Fox has a new series on NBC that specifically deals with his life with Parkinson's disease. In a new interview, Fox said that he would not ask God or any other higher power to change his life and take away the disease.
"If I walked into a room with God or Buddha or Bill Gates or Sergey Brin or whoever could figure out a way to fix it for me, I don't think I'd do it," Fox told Rolling Stone magazine. "I wouldn't have gone through what I've gone through and I wouldn't have had the experience I've had, and I can still do my [explicative]. At the end of the day I can still do a show, so what have I lost?"
"We all have our bag of hammers. It's like the parable about this circle of people and everyone takes their worst problem and puts it in the middle and they all get to choose one to take back – and they all end up choosing their own. And that's kind of it; you'd always take your own problems back over someone else's," Fox explained.
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Fox is a Hollywood legend, dating back to his role on "Family Ties," which helped launch his career. He followed that up with films such as "Back to the Future" and "Doc Hollywood," which made him a household name. In 1991, Fox announced that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's, a degenerative disorder that affects that central nervous system.
He continued working, though, and made a memorable guest appearance on "Scrubs," playing a doctor battling Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Fox has made no effort to hide the effects Parkinson's has had on him; on "The Good Wife," Fox's character simply explains that he has a disorder that causes him to have tics. Now, on his new show, life with Parkinson's is front-and-center.
"I just don't tell myself that I can't do it," Fox said. "Then I just do it. A show is easier to regulate than life. There are no surprises, really. You know what you have to do in a given day, and you rest and medicate accordingly. I'm shocked at how much easier this is than I thought it would be."
"The Michael J. Fox Show" airs Thursday nights on NBC.
