Fans Support Michael J. Fox Decision To Quit Making Movies
'Back to the Future' star recently detailed his ongoing battle with Parkinson's disease, and fans expressed their admiration for the legendary actor's courage.
Michael J. Fox, first made famous by the '80s sitcom 'Family Ties', never hid his illness, disclosing his diagnosis back in 1998, and since then established a foundation to help support research for a possible cure and appeared in numerous films and television series. So, when the actor announced his retirement from acting in 2020, millions of his fans supported his decision to put his health first.
As a guest on Mike Birbiglia's 'Working It Out' podcast, Fox recalled the first time he felt acting had become something of a burden for him, referring to his guest role on the CBS series 'The Good Fight'.
"When I did the spinoff… 'The Good Fight', I couldn't remember the lines. I just had this blank, I couldn't remember the lines. But what [was] really refreshing was I didn't panic. I didn't freak out. I just went, 'Well, that's that. Moving on. A key element of this process is memorizing lines, and I can't do it," Fox said.
It seems that years of support from fans and family have proven to Fox that his career and legacy will never go away, even if he decides to stop acting in movies and TV series altogether. The actor's fandom stands firmly behind him, sharing their admiration for Fox's decades-long determination to battle the illness.
"Honestly astounded with him. Expected him to quit long, long time ago. Obviously Back to the future is #1, but loved him on Spin City," – /UndeadOne.
Others praise Fox's performance in the aforementioned 'The Good Fight', arguing that his superb acting completely masked his apparent inability to remember lines.
"Saw him on The Good Fight recently. Aside from the obvious, he can still act. Update after reading the article: Wouldn't have known he couldn't remember his lines on it. His prompts and cues were flawless." – /sofewcharacters.