Michael J. Fox has described his experience living with Parkinson's disease as confronting a "bully," drawing parallels between his personal struggles and what he sees as a broader "bully culture" in society.
As "Back to the Future" turns 40, Fox, 64, said in an interview with Empire that the film's themes still strike a chord with audiences.
"We live in a bully culture right now," he said. "For me personally, Parkinson's is a bully."
Fox, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1991 at age 29, said managing the illness requires strength and persistence.
"Much about dealing with a bully is how you stand up to them and the resolve that you take into the fight with them," he said. "It's about your resilience and your courage."
The actor noted that bullying is a recurring theme both in life and in the "Back to the Future" trilogy.
"We have bullies everywhere — you don't need me to point the finger at who, but there are all these bullies," he told Empire. "In this movie, Biff is a bully. Time is a bully."
Fox noted that the movie's message still connects with audiences across generations.
"I think there's a lot to that right now. I think a lot of people are responding to the movie because it strikes chords they wouldn't otherwise recognize," he said.
In "Back to the Future," Fox portrays teenager Marty McFly, who is tormented by high school bully Biff Tannen, played by Thomas F. Wilson.
The film's creator, Bob Gale, has previously said that Biff was partly inspired by President Donald Trump, who was a prominent public figure in the 1980s.
Fox later drew the same comparison, telling The Guardian in 2020: "Every worst instinct in mankind has been played on [by Trump], and for me that's just anathema. Biff is president!"
Beyond his acting career, Fox has become one of the strongest advocates for Parkinson's research.
His Michael J. Fox Foundation, launched in 2000, has raised more than $2.5 billion to support Parkinson's research and treatments.
Appearing on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on Oct. 21, Fox said representing others living with the condition was deeply meaningful to him.
"People that had Parkinson's were stigmatised, so to represent them, I'm so humbled by it. But it's not about me," he said.
In a recent interview with The Times, Fox reflected on living with the illness for more than three decades.
"There's no timeline, there's no series of stages that you go through — not in the same way that you would, say, with prostate cancer. It's much more mysterious and enigmatic," he said.
"There are not many people who have had Parkinson's for 35 years. I'd like to just not wake up one day. That'd be really cool. I don't want it to be dramatic. I don't want to trip over furniture, smash my head."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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