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\nIn a cover story with PEOPLE, Michael J. Fox opens up about his new book, Future Boy, his return to TV on Shrinking and his life now 34 years after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s diseaseFuture Boy is a behind-the-scenes account of when he filmed Family Ties and Back to the Future simultaneously in 1985: \u201cIt took me a long time to believe that I pulled it off.\u201dFox also shares his philosophy for staying positive amid new challenges: “You take the good, and you seize it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael J. Fox<\/a> has a vivid memory from 40 years ago.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n It\u2019s a winter evening in 1985, and he\u2019s backstage at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, waiting for his cue to walk out in front of a live audience assembled at Stage 24 for a taping of his NBC comedy Family Ties. Suddenly he panics. The camcorder he needs for his scene isn\u2019t on the prop table.\n<\/p>\n After a few seconds it dawns on him: It\u2019s not his Family Ties<\/a> character Alex P. Keaton who uses a camcorder \u2014 that would be Marty McFly, his alter ego from Back to the Future<\/a>, the movie he\u2019s been filming each night after the sitcom. He tapes the scene, and four hours later he\u2019s shuttling to job No. 2.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m feeling the strain,\u201d he recalls in his new book Future Boy<\/a> (out Oct. 14), \u201cbut that\u2019s nobody\u2019s business but mine.\u201d\n<\/p>\n The cover of ‘Future Boy’ by Michael J. Fox and Nelle Fortenberry.<\/p>\n Flatiron Books<\/p>\n If there\u2019s anyone who exhibits grace under pressure, it\u2019s Fox. Four decades after pulling off that feat, the actor and Parkinson\u2019s disease research advocate still sets high standards for himself, like cowriting Future Boy<\/a> \u2014 which recounts that intense time making two major projects simultaneously \u2014 in just nine months to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Back to the Future.\n<\/p>\n And when it comes to tackling seemingly impossible challenges, Fox, 64, likes to paraphrase a famous line from that very movie. \u201cIf you put your mind to it,\u201d he says, sitting in his New York City office while sipping from a can of Coke Zero, \u201cyou can do anything.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Over the past several months he\u2019s been doing quite a lot. Aside from writing Future Boy with longtime collaborator Nelle Fortenberry, Fox filmed a guest arc in the upcoming third season of the Apple TV+ series Shrinking<\/a>, five years after retiring from acting in 2020<\/a> amid health struggles related to his Parkinson\u2019s.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m always retiring,\u201d quips Fox, who previously said he\u2019d stop acting after leaving Spin City in 2000.\n<\/p>\n He\u2019s also finishing the audio version of his new book and continuing his work with the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson\u2019s Research<\/a>, which he founded in 2000 after being diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease in 1991.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n With all he has going on, the past year has been an exciting one. As Fox says with his trademark enthusiasm: \u201cIt\u2019s just been really positive, really energizing.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Michael J. Fox was photographed for PEOPLE in N.Y.C. on Sept. 5.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not to say his life is without its hurdles. Fox, who showed viewers in the Emmy-award-winning 2023 documentary Still<\/a> how he stays optimistic even as Parkinson\u2019s takes its toll on his speech and motor skills, listens to his body each morning before deciding what to do.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \u201cI wake up and get the message of what the day is gonna be like, and I try to adjust to it,\u201d says Fox, who has four adult children, Sam, 36, twins Aquinnah and Schuyler, 30, and Esm\u00e9, 23, with his wife of 37 years, Tracy Pollan, 65.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Take PEOPLE with you!\u00a0Subscribe to PEOPLE magazine<\/a>\u00a0to get the latest details on celebrity news, exclusive royal updates, how-it-happened true crime stories and more \u2014 right to your mailbox.\n<\/p>\n \u201cI keep getting new challenges physically, and I get through it. I roll around in a wheelchair a lot, and it took some getting used to,\u201d he continues. Fox always looks on the bright side: \u201cYou take the good, and you seize it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n He still enthusiastically attends movie conventions, which helped spark the idea to write Future Boy.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \u201cPeople really love the movie,\u201d he says of the sci-fi comedy about a teen who travels from 1985 to 1955 when he hops in his wacky scientist friend\u2019s DeLorean turned time machine. \u201cI wanted to sincerely fulfill their wish to know more about the experience.\u201d\n<\/p>\n He and Fortenberry interviewed former costars including Lea Thompson (who played Marty\u2019s mom, Lorraine) and director and co-writer Robert Zemeckis to tell behind-the-scenes secrets.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n One major drama: Unbeknownst to Fox at the time, he had been the first choice to play Marty, but Family Ties creator Gary David Goldberg shut down the idea, citing Fox\u2019s prior commitment to the show.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Michael J. Fox with Michael Gross and Meredith Baxter on ‘Family Ties.’.<\/p>\n Paramount Television\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n