Michael J. Fox is no stranger to the entertainment industry — he’s been acting since he was a child in the 1970s — so he knows it’s a demanding field that can take a lot out of a person. Still, he said that these days, you can wear so many different hats, expressing excitement over the idea of possibly producing or directing. As he told Rachel Smith, he wanted to “do it all” when he was younger but couldn’t quite make that work. “22-year-olds are obnoxious,” he joked.
Still, Fox was open about the fact that he prioritizes other things now, including his family, his wife (actress Tracy Pollan and Fox have been married since 1988), and the work he does regarding Parkinson’s disease. “My biggest goal, I think, was to raise a family,” he said. “We have four amazing kids and that’s been the big thing. And then the other is with the foundation.”
Fox has opened up previously about his retirement, telling Empire Magazine in 2023 that a specific Quentin Tarantino film shook him to his very core. After having trouble remembering his lines on the acclaimed series “The Good Fight,” Fox told the magazine he was struck by a scene in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” that felt eerily similar. “There’s a scene where Leonardo DiCaprio’s character can’t remember his lines anymore,” Fox said. “He goes back to his dressing room and he’s screaming at himself in the mirror. Just freaking insane. I had this moment where I was looking in the mirror and thought, ‘I cannot remember it anymore.'”