Michael J. Fox talks Parkinson’s and perseverance in documentary ‘Still’

NEW YORK — For his armies of fans, Michael J. Fox will always be the eternal teenager, the 1980s heartthrob, the fresh-faced star of “Family Ties” and “Back to the Future.”

“You can’t kill a cockroach,” the 61-year-old told Reuters in the run-up to the release of the new documentary “Still,” an unsparing portrait of his life with Parkinson’s disease.

“I say in the movie I’m a tough son of a bitch. I can get through anything I face.”

The Canadian-American actor has had to face a lot from his early career scrabbling around for roles, negotiating his terms over a payphone outside a fast food restaurant, to the diagnosis he kept secret for seven years.

“Still” tells his tale through a mix of interviews, home movies, archive footage and scripted scenes.

“It’s a lot about the experience of living with a chronic disease and finding a way to do it successfully and in a way that … gives you room to be who you are and who you want to be,” Fox said.