Michael J. Fox says Parkinson’s “relieved” him of vanity

Michael J. Fox says that Parkinson’s has “relieved him of vanity”.

The actor, who was diagnosed with the disease back in 1991, has always remained upbeat despite his condition.

“One of the great things about Parkinson’s, in a superficial way, is it relieved me of vanity,” he said.

“I don’t worry about what I look like, because it’s literally out of my hands.

“But on a deeper level, it gives you a real humility, because you have to deal every day with the fact that you compromise, to a certain extent – so then you explore what that compromise is and ‘how am I compromised?’ And for everything I can’t do, I find that there’s another ability that’s been developed or another avenue that I’ve gone down.”

The actor also returned to work last year, appearing in several episodes of The Good Wife, which he found was a hugely positive experience.

“Career wise, it was great to work again. That was really fun,” he said.

“I don’t have the physical subtlety that I had before. I don’t have the elasticity of expression that I had. But at the same time, this experience has given me a gravitas, a kind of steadiness and a stillness, even in my motion, that I didn’t have before. It’s really taught me how to be quiet.”