“He’s screaming at himself in the mirror”: Leonardo DiCaprio Made Michael J. Fox to Retire From Acting
Since the early 90s, Back To The Future star Michael J. Fox has been dealing with Parkinson’s disease. Without any complete cure, his nervous system’s condition has only been deteriorating since the signs set on. But all that has never stopped Fox in his endeavors as he went on acting and even collected many awards and such ever since his diagnosis became public.
However, he decided to quit his acting career only two years back in 2021. Looking at his worsening condition, it was something he had to decide. And it has come to light recently that the inspiration to discontinue acting came from Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Leonardo DiCaprio’s Character Inspired Michael J. Fox To Quit Acting
When it comes to his works in Hollywood, Michael J. Fox cannot be denied all the wonderful job he did with his characters. He may be most well-known for playing Marty McFly in the Back to The Future film series, however, many other roles have received critical acclaim. Unfortunately, he has been suffering from a nervous system disorder, Parkinson’s disease.
It all started back in 1991 with simple twitches here and there. But because it is a degenerative brain disorder, his condition has worsened a lot since then. This was the core reason, Fox finally decided to quit acting. However, as it turns out the decision was also a result of his inspiration from Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in Once Upon a Time In Hollywood.
According to a recent interview with Empire, Fox revealed that before deciding on quitting his acting career, there was a moment when he could not remember his lines. It had been while he was working on The Good Wife. The experience led him to think about DiCaprio’s character who goes through the same. Talking about the movie scene Fox shared,
“He goes back to his dressing room and he’s screaming at himself in the mirror. Just freaking insane”
He seemed to have had the same moment in real life and that is where the decision to quit acting came up. And so, he retired in 2021, but he has been active in his endeavor to help research Parkinson’s disease.
Michael J. Fox and Parkinson’s Disease
It was back in 1991, the early signs of Parkinson’s disease started appearing in Michael J. Fox. However, he did not announce it publicly till 1998. Not long after the first signs had surfaced, he got became an alcoholic and had a period of depression and addiction but in the following year, Fox came out sober. As his condition is degenerative, over the years it has only gotten worse. From teaching to memory loss it has all happened.
However, the actor has been very active in his participation in helping with researching a cure for the brain disorder. In 2000, he created the Michael J. Fox Foundation to help with the research. And it has been going on strongly since then.
Source: Empire
