Michael J. Fox received a long standing ovation at the Sundance Film Festival, where a new documentary about his life, career and struggle with Parkinson’s disease called “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” had its world premiere on Friday.
The “Back To The Future” and “Family Ties” star said he was particularly moved to see his own family onscreen.
“When I watch the film the thing that screams at me — how lucky I’ve been and how successful I’ve been — is the stuff with my family. It’s just such joy,” said the actor.
“I see my daughters laughing, [wife] Tracy [Pollan] trying to make sense of my craziness, and [my son] Sam being a 33-year-old man. When the hell did that happen?”
Fox, 61, spoke during an onstage Q&A with the premiere audience at the Eccles Theater, alongside director Davis Guggenheim, and described how the documentary came to be.
Fox participated in a Q&A onstage with director Davis Guggenheim, left.Johnny Oleksinski“I had just kind of come to a place that you [Guggenheim] had stumbled into, which is, ‘I can’t understand this, I can’t figure it out, I can’t look at it from different angles that don’t threaten me but enlighten me, make me stronger’,” he said. “And just as I was getting all that together, you stumbled into my life and said, ‘Let’s make a movie out of this.’ And I thought, ‘I’ve got nothing to do the next six weeks.'”
The actor, who moved from Quogue, New York, to Santa Barbara, Calif., in 2021, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1991 when he was 29 years old. He kept the disease secret for seven years, and has since become an outspoken advocate for research and funding with his Michael J. Fox Foundation.
Fox (center), wife Tracy Pollan and director Davis Guggenheim walk the red carpet at Sundance. Getty ImagesFox also mentioned his recent viral reunion with “Back To The Future” co-star Christopher Lloyd.
“Chris is one of the great guys of all time. When I worked with him on the movies, I was so busy so we didn’t establish a complex relationship,” he said. “As we’ve gotten older and these events show up — ComicCon, things like that — and we started talking, I realized what a great guy he is. And I also realized what a genius he is.”
He added of the 84-year-old actor, “He’s getting younger and I’m getting older.”
Although Fox and the documentary about him express his extremely optimistic outlook on life, he didn’t shy away from his hardships during the talk.
“I got to a point with all these injuries where I thought, I don’t want to get too grim, but I certainly was disappointed with where things were going. And I thought, ‘I’m 61 years old, I gotta sit down with myself and have a conversation,” he said.
Describing his internal monologue, Fox added: “I’m 61, I’ll live to 92 and have a great life and enjoy my grandchildren, or I can just say I’m just gonna get sicker until I don’t try to hurt myself, I don’t try not to hurt myself, and just let it go down this path I don’t want it to go down. Like I said, a grim moment.”
Fox added: “Every time I say, ‘This rocks. I love my life, I love my family, I love what I do, I love that people react to what I do, I love that I can be an example to other people and help them deal with their issues.
“It’s am amazing f–king life. And I’m enjoying it, and I’m glad you’re with me.”
“Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” will hit AppleTV+ later this year.
