Michael J. Fox returns to the camera for a fourth season of Apple TV Contractionabout 25 years after doctors first warned him that his Parkinson’s diagnosis would force him off screens for good.
The actor, now 65, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991 while enjoying the success of Family tiesand he was told at the time that he had about a decade left before illness would make performing too difficult.
He kept the diagnosis a secret for seven years, continuing to do so throughout his life. Rotation city before going public and, alongside his wife Tracy Pollan, becoming one of the most recognizable faces in the Parkinson’s community.
He’s now up for an Emmy for his first turn in season three. Contractionand prepares to head to California to begin filming more episodes.
His relationship with acting has not been a straight line.
He gave up performing on stage during the pandemic, finding it too difficult to rely on his everyday speech, and remained retired for six years before calling his old friend and Rotation city collaborator Bill Lawrence to return to the company.
Reflecting on the decision, Fox said, “It has really extended my life and made it interesting in a way that I didn’t think it would be to this extent. I’m not retired from acting, but if I wasn’t acting anymore, it would be for a very good reason. I let Parkinson’s make decisions for me.”
Beyond acting, Fox has spent the last 25 years leading the Michael J. Fox Foundation alongside co-founder and CEO Deborah Brooks, a nonprofit that has funded more than $3 billion in Parkinson’s research and aims to reach $700 million in new commitments this year, a sum that Brooks says is nearly triple what the U.S. government has spent on Parkinson’s research in 2025.
When Brooks joined the organization, she came from an investment banking background rather than medicine, and described learning about the disease’s lesser-known symptoms, like constipation and loss of smell, directly from patients because the medical establishment had not yet caught up.
On screen, Fox has continued to find roles that allow him to lean into his condition rather than hide it, since his Emmy-nominated stint as calculating lawyer Louis Canning in The good wife to a fictionalized version of himself on Limit your enthusiasm.
Contraction marked a new milestone for him: it is the first time that he plays a character interacting with another character also suffering from Parkinson’s disease, in scenes opposite Harrison Ford.
Fox spoke warmly of Ford’s openness and affection in developing this dynamic, calling him a “darling” despite his reputation as the more reserved.
