RoyalFlash
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Michael J. Fox has recalled struggling to make ends meet before his big break.
While speaking to Variety for an interview published on Thursday, the Back to the Future star recounted his childhood and adolescence in Canada, raised by police dispatcher William and payroll clerk Phyllis.
After participating in school plays, Michael realised he was "more talented than a lot of people" - so he moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting.
"I was living on the margins. I was 18 years old, with no money, no connections, literally dumpster diving for food," he said. "I knew that if I wanted to be someone, I couldn't just sit on my parents' porch and think, 'Boy, if I was only born in the States and my parents had money and weren't living paycheck to paycheck, I could do something with my life.'"
The actor remembered filming 1980's Midnight Madness when he thought, "Why is this going to work for me and not for them?"
He explained, "It's not that I wished them unhappiness or bad luck - I wished them all the success in the world... But I knew I was going to make it. God knows why."
Two years later, Michael landed his breakout role in the TV sitcom Family Ties. While riding high on the success of Teen Wolf and the Back to the Future trilogy, the actor was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1991.
"It's such a s**tty disease," he lamented. "I didn't want to think about it. I didn't want to deal with it. It didn't fit my story. I just shut down."
Despite the diagnosis, Michael only retired from acting in 2020.
"I've won more awards and had more nominations since I announced my diagnosis," he noted. "It may be that people feel bad for me, but I prefer to look at it as an acknowledgement for continuing to have a legitimate career."
While speaking to Variety for an interview published on Thursday, the Back to the Future star recounted his childhood and adolescence in Canada, raised by police dispatcher William and payroll clerk Phyllis.
After participating in school plays, Michael realised he was "more talented than a lot of people" - so he moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting.
"I was living on the margins. I was 18 years old, with no money, no connections, literally dumpster diving for food," he said. "I knew that if I wanted to be someone, I couldn't just sit on my parents' porch and think, 'Boy, if I was only born in the States and my parents had money and weren't living paycheck to paycheck, I could do something with my life.'"
The actor remembered filming 1980's Midnight Madness when he thought, "Why is this going to work for me and not for them?"
He explained, "It's not that I wished them unhappiness or bad luck - I wished them all the success in the world... But I knew I was going to make it. God knows why."
Two years later, Michael landed his breakout role in the TV sitcom Family Ties. While riding high on the success of Teen Wolf and the Back to the Future trilogy, the actor was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1991.
"It's such a s**tty disease," he lamented. "I didn't want to think about it. I didn't want to deal with it. It didn't fit my story. I just shut down."
Despite the diagnosis, Michael only retired from acting in 2020.
"I've won more awards and had more nominations since I announced my diagnosis," he noted. "It may be that people feel bad for me, but I prefer to look at it as an acknowledgement for continuing to have a legitimate career."