Michael J. Fox struggles to memorise scripts amid his battle with Parkinson’s.
Michael J. Fox
The 59-year-old actor has been battling the disease - which is a brain disorder that leads to shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with walking, balance, and coordination - for almost 30 years, and has said he not only suffers with tremors and rigidity, but is now also having difficulty with his “short-term memory”.
He confessed: “My short-term memory is shot. I always had a real proficiency for lines and memorisation. And I had some extreme situations where the last couple of jobs I did were actually really word-heavy parts. I struggled during both of them.”
Now that Michael finds acting “tougher” than ever, the ‘Back To The Future’ star has turned to writing as his creative outlet, as he says his condition has also made it impossible for him to continue his other hobbies, which included sketching and guitar playing.
He added: “I’m down to [writing]. My guitar playing is no good. My sketching is no good anymore, my dancing never was good, and acting is getting tougher to do. So it’s down to writing. Luckily, I really enjoy it.”
And despite his health battle, Michael - who is set to release his fourth memoir, ‘No Time Like the Future’, on November 17 - is remaining “optimistic” about his own future.
He explained: “Optimism is sustainable when you keep coming back to gratitude, and what follows from that is acceptance. Accepting that this thing has happened, and you accept it for what it is. It doesn’t mean that you can’t endeavour to change. It doesn’t mean you have to accept it as a punishment or a penance, but just put it in its proper place. Then see how much the rest of your life you have to thrive in, and then you can move on.”
Right now, Michael says his life is “good”, as he has the support of his family, including his wife, Tracy Pollan, and their kids - son Sam, 31, twins Aquinnah and Schuyler, both 25, and daughter Esme, 19.
Speaking to People magazine, he said: “It’s not that I wasn’t sincere before, but my gratitude is deeper now, from having gotten through the darkest times.
"So the last couple couple of years have been trickier than most. But I have things that I've been blessed with that are just incredible. Life is rich. Life is good."
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