Still, Michael J Fox’s new documentary, surprised him.
The film combines documentary, archive, and fictional elements to tell Michael’s incredible experience in his own words.
His life has been full of ups and downs, from growing up in Canada to being one of Hollywood’s most recognised performers in the 1980s.
Michael, now 61, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at the age of 29 and is giving viewers an intimate peek into his day-to-day life for the first time in the documentary, which tackles his family life, personal fights, and how he confronts the incurable condition.
Parkinson’s disease is a neurological disorder, according to the NHS. It produces symptoms like as tremors and stiffness, which develop with time.
In a press conference for Still, which Metro.co.uk attended, the Back to the Future star claimed he had no clue how far he fell over or what he looked like as his face drooped.
‘You’ve always been public about your struggles with Parkinson’s, but was there anything in this film you were more hesitant to reveal about living with your condition?’, the star was asked.
He responded: ‘I don’t know if I was hesitant to reveal it, but when I saw it, it was shocking to me – I understand the idea of my face going blank or lacking expression, I don’t always know what I look like.
‘That doesn’t bother me, but it’s a shock when you see it.’
He continued: ‘People say, “I saw you stumbling in the room, falling over, it was really shocking…” like, you were shocked!? It freaked the s**t out of me! I didn’t expect to fall over the furniture!’
Following that, Michael thanked the film’s director, Davis Guggenheim, for his efforts on the project.
‘Davis shot it so beautifully and it could’ve been confrontational, but it was cathartic,’ Michael explained.
‘In order for this to be the film that it is, I had to let Davis be the filmmaker that he is and get the stuff that I wasn’t aware he was getting, but it just added to the film.
‘But it was shocking to me that this is real, this is my life, we’re not making this up.’
Davis, the filmmaker, was likewise quick to applaud Michael.
‘A lot of people are very guarded with what they share and Michael was a total open book, which says a lot about him,’ he complimented.
Michael’s family, especially his wife Tracy Pollan, 62, whom he married in 1988, and his children Sam, Aquinnah, Esmé, and Schuyler, have been there for him throughout his illness.
Seeing how they handled things in the documentary also impacted Michael’s heart.
‘What most affects me when I watch it is not all the tragedy and struggle and conflict – it’s my family,’ he confessed.
‘It’s these people who are, beautiful, funny, they keep me alive, they keep me connected and they’re so smart and grounded, and my wife is a miracle, and that was a big thing for me, seeing that.
‘It’s my life, it’s so real and it’s how much I count on those people and how much they deliver for me, and how my relationship with them is from my honesty. They’ve no real reason to be anything but open with what I say because I’ve never lied to them.’
Still: A Michael J Fox Movie will begin streaming on Apple TV+ on May 12.
Source My Celebrity Life.