Michael J. Fox sparks outpouring of emotion from fans after making shock announcement amid Parkinson's battle
After taking a significant step back from acting since his 1991 Parkinson's diagnosis, Michael J. Fox is making a comeback.
The Back To The Future star, 63, last acted when he reprised his Good Wife character, Louis Canning, in the 2020 spinoff The Good Fight.
But Fox will now make a return to the screen for the third season of the Emmy-nominated Apple TV+ series Shrinking, which stars Jason Segal and Harrison Ford.
Jeff Daniels, Sherry Cola and Isabella Gomez, will also join the cast. It's not yet known which character Fox will play.
Emotional fans took to social media to share their delight over the news amid the star's health woes.
'My admiration for this man has no limits! I'm happy to see him acting again,' one fan gushed in a Reddit post announcing the news.
They continued: 'Having Parkinson's disease in my immediate family, I appreciate how much he has done for raising awareness of the disease, and I have enjoyed how he has incorporated the disease into his acting. Looking forward to seeing what he will be doing in Shrinking.'
'Good for him! Excited to see him,' wrote another.
'With how well Shrinking balances its humor with gut-punch moments, I wouldn't be surprised if Fox really puts his soul into his character and makes it feel cathartic,' chimed in someone else.
'Oooh! Love the show and this is really cool news. I can see him fitting into the cast very well,' another enthused fan wrote.
Shrinking follows widowed and grieving therapist Jimmy (Jason Segel) who begins to break the rules and tells his clients exactly what he thinks.
Ignoring his training and ethics, he finds himself making huge, tumultuous changes to people's lives, including his own.
Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1991 at age 29 while filming Doc Hollywood, after experiencing a sore shoulder and twitching pinky. The actor went public with his diagnosis in 1998.
Fox previously worked with Shrinking's co-creator Bill Lawrence on ABC's Spin City. However, he left after Season 4 in 2000 after his Parkinson's symptoms worsened.
The dad-of-four also featured in a two-episode arc Scrubs, another Lawrence-led series, where he played a genius doctor with severe OCD.
Fox has said the disease prompted him to largely retire from acting, devoting more time to spending time with his family and working for his foundation, The Michael J. Fox Foundation, which funds research and the search for a Parkinson's disease cure.
Excited fans took to social media to share their delight over the news, ecstatic over the news
Fox starred as teenager Marty McFly in the science fiction movie Back to the Future in 1985, as well as in the sequels Back to the Future Part II (in 1989) and Back to the Future III (in 1990).
He played Alex P. Keaton on Family Times from 1982 until 1989.
Earlier in the month, the actor announced his fifth memoir. The book, co-written with Nelle Fortenberry, is called Future Boy: Back to the Future and My Journey Through the Space-Time Continuum, and is set to drop in the fall.
The memoir will focus on the year 1985, which is when Michael was working on both Back to the movie Future and the series Family Ties - as well as years before he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease.
'As we approach the 40th anniversary of Back to the Future, my thoughts turn to my adventures as a younger man,' he told People.
'This book has basically become a time machine for me, but unlike the DeLorean, there's plenty of room for anyone who'd like to climb in for the ride,' he added.
The book will also be released the same year as the 40th anniversary of Back to the Future, which catapulted him to fame in 1985.
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