Michael J. Fox recalls that a particular scene from Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon A Time In Hollywood came to mind at the moment when he decided it was time to retire. Fox first rose to prominence with the show Family Ties before then rocketing to fame with his role as Marty McFly in Back To The Future. In 1991, however, at the age of 29, Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, a progressive neurological condition that eventually led to his retirement from acting in 2020 at age 58.
In a recent interview with Empire Magazine ahead of the release of STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie, Fox remembers the moment he knew it was time for him to stop acting. He was on the set of The Good Fight, a spinoff of The Good Wife, and, despite his previous ability to quickly memorize his scripts, he kept forgetting his lines. Check out Fox's recollection of events below:
"I thought of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. There's a scene where Leonardo DiCaprio's character can't remember his lines anymore. He goes back to his dressing room and he's screaming at himself in the mirror. Just freaking insane. I had this moment where I was looking in the mirror and thought, 'I cannot remember it anymore. Well, let's move on.' It was peaceful."
Michael J. Fox Had A Great Acting Career
Although his acting days may now be behind him, Fox enjoyed a fantastic career as an actor, both as a young man and later as a more mature performer. In the same Empire Magazine interview, which was conducted over Zoom, Fox gestures to his array of acting awards, including five Emmys, four Golden Globes, and an honorary Oscar, before saying with a smile, "I feel some pride in my accomplishment."
After Back to the Future, Fox returned for several more seasons of the popular Family Ties, with the show eventually coming to an end in 1989. Fox juggled his TV obligations with more movie roles, including Back to the Future Part II in 1989 and Back to the Future Part III in 1990. After bidding farewell to McFly, Fox appeared regularly in movies, including The Hard Way, Doc Hollywood, Life with Mikey, For Love or Money, and Stuart Little, among many others.
Fox slowed down a little career-wise in the mid-2000s, taking on fewer roles but still retaining a significant presence in the world of TV. He would appear in Scrubs, Boston Legal, and eventually played a starring role in The Michael J. Fox Show, in addition to frequent voice work. Fox's battle with Parkinson's may have led to early retirement from acting, but his decades-long career in the world of TV and movies is certainly something to be proud of.
Source: Empire Magazine