Michael J Fox reveals the conditions that would make him return to acting

Star of ‘Back to the Future’ retired from on-screen roles after effects of Parkinson’s disease made remembering lines difficult

Michael J Fox has shared his willingness to return to the acting world if a fitting role became available.

The actor was a mainstay across film and TV in the 1980s, with movies such as Teen Wolf, The Secret of My Success and the Back to the Future trilogy making him one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars.

In 1991, a year after Back to the Future Part III was released, Fox – then 29 – was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a neurological condition that causes issues such as shaking and stiffness.

Although the Family Ties star continued working throughout the 1990s and 2000s, he announced his retirement from on-screen roles in 2020 as the disease, which often also affects a person’s memory, had made it difficult to remember his lines.

However, this week, Fox, 62, revealed that he would consider acting again “if I could figure it out”.

“If someone offers me a part and I do it and I have a good time, great,” he told Entertainment Tonight.

“I would do acting if something came up that I could put my realities into it, my challenges, if I could figure it out.”

Michael J Fox (Getty Images for The Michael J. Fox Foundation)

As well as raising a family with his wife, Tracy Pollan, Fox counted one of his biggest achievements as being the work he’s done with the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s research.

Founded in 2000, the organisation has raised more than two billion dollars (£1.58bn) towards research into the condition, CBS News reported in November.

The Spin City star also told the news platform how his views on having Parkinson’s have changed over the years.

“After 35 years or something since I’ve been diagnosed, this is just my life and I don’t think about it much,” he said about his Parkinson’s. “I don’t even think about [it].”

Michael J Fox and his wife Tracy Pollan on the Baftas red carpet (AFP via Getty Images)

Though Fox acknowledged that his disease isn’t always on his mind, he noted that his thoughts about Parkinson’s were often about the goal of finding a cure.

“I’m thinking about what we’re going to do as a community to figure this out and find a cure – and short of a cure, [create] treatment centres that are really groundbreaking,” he said.

He then emphasised that Parkinson’s has simply become a part of his everyday life, adding: “Me personally, it’s just who I am, and the way I was built. And I’m necessarily trying to figure it out for me, I’m figuring it out for everybody. But it just is what it is.”

In February, Fox was met with a standing ovation when he made a rare public appearance at the Baftas to present the award for best film.