Michael J. Fox feels enthusiastic about living with Parkinson’s disease.
At the age of 29, the Back to the Future star, 61, was diagnosed with the incurable condition, which produces tremors and rigidity.
He recently acknowledged that he does not believe he will live to reach 80 because treating his health has become’much difficult.’
However, the Hollywood actress, who is always looking on the bright side, is still finding the funny in things.
Michael expressed his desire for his new picture, Still, not to be tragic during a press conference .
Davis Guggenheim directed the Apple TV+ documentary, which blends documentary, archive, and scripted footage to explore Michael’s amazing life and career in his own words.
When asked about the film’s humorous tone, Davis emphasised the necessity of the film never losing its comedy, even when the subject matter grew sad or serious.
‘It has everything to do with Michael,’ he began.
‘Michael is funny! It’s fun to laugh.’
He also mentioned that reading Michael’s autobiography during the epidemic provided him the boost he needed.
‘I was low, like a lot of people, and depressed, and I needed a story like this and needed to laugh a little bit,’ he said.
‘I always think laughter reveals something deeper. We think laughter is frivolous but, sometimes, laughter reveals something deeper.’
Michael himself then chimed in: ‘My thing on anything is, what’s funny about it? In any situation, what’s the funny part?
‘You can always find the part that’s tragic in something or sad in something, and it can bring you down, but it’s a little more of a challenge but much more rewarding to find what’s universally human, which is usually universally funny.’
The pair, who have become good friends, then claimed that some people misinterpret humour as a’meaningless’ representation or’mocking.’
Michael, on the other hand, was well aware of his plans.
‘I talk in the film about making people laugh and the joy of making people laugh, and I realised while we were making the movie, I knew when I was younger and started to do comedy and people would laugh, I made them make a noise they didn’t want to make, and that was powerful. Anything that powerful is important.’
During the Q&A, the Canadian-American celebrity, who has collected millions of dollars for Parkinson’s causes, revealed why he decided now to tell his tale.
‘With all that I’ve experienced over the last few years, the avenues I have to express my creativity and get my feelings out are diminished, in a way,’ he said.
‘I can’t do certain things I used to do, but I can tell stories. The stories I know best are my own stories and I found that, as I told them to people, they related to them and understood and that informed me in ways that I wasn’t aware of, so it brought this communal storytelling cycle that involved people out of my world and it was really exciting.’
Davis praised Michael for being an ‘open book’ throughout filming, also hailing his attitude despite the pain he’s in.
‘Michael is full of optimism,’ he declared.
‘You had a lot of falls and you’re in a lot of pain but his attitude is to see the brighter side of things, so that part is infectious,’ he praised, adding that Michael inspires him to ‘not take myself too seriously.’
‘When you have a story this special, you have to really enjoy it.’
Still: A Michael J Fox Movie will begin streaming on Apple TV+ on May 12.
