Michael J. Fox woke up one morning in 1990 to notice that his little finger was shaking. “I noticed my pinkie: auto-animated,” he says. Perhaps it was the result of a hangover. Or was it a bar brawl that he doesn’t remember? The night before, he was out drinking with Woody Harrelson while the morning after had drowned him in a “bath of fear”. The trembling was a “message from the future”.

At that point, he was the toast of Hollywood, one with a Midas touch. By that time, he had already fought a few battles, the biggest being height coming in the way of stardom (at the age of 16 he played the part of a 12-year-old). But the warning signs on that 1990 Florida morning were strong enough to burst the career bubble he had created for himself. He was on the cusp of entering his 30s when he realised there was a chance — however slight — that he had a dreaded disease. Soon the man who could never stay still learned that he had Parkinson’s disease. He was 29 while most Parkinson’s sufferers were over 50.

Instead of drowning in the unknown, he decided to live by his wits, telling the world what life was like for a person with Parkinson’s and, at the same time, helping raise hundreds of millions of dollars to fight the disease. The new Apple TV+ film, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie shows that Parkinson’s hasn’t been a downer for him. Not that it makes the film an inspirational one but director Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth, He Named Me Malala, Waiting for “Superman”) tries to find out from the star what keeps him optimistic, not allowing anything to dull his wit (“A pig is a pig no matter how many hit movies he’s just had,” we hear Fox say).

Based on memoirs written by Fox and liberally borrowing snippets from his films, Guggenheim (his production company Concordia Studio is backed by Laurene Powell Jobs and Emerson Collective) has made one of the most powerful documentaries to have hit the screen in recent times. It’s largely a story told in Fox’s own words. The director punctuates the halting responses Fox offers with brilliant dialogues culled from his works — Family Ties to Spin City, Back to the Future to Bright Lights, Big City. What you get is a documentary that’s fast-paced and, at the same time, a reminder of how life can take the strangest of turns.

Fox with his wife Tracy Pollan. Picture: Apple

Act I: Lifebefore 1990

As a child Michael Fox (‘J’ was added later by the actor) could never be still. Children are not meant to be still. “I lacked the faith to be required to be still,” he says. As the years started rolling by, he noticed something odd about him — everyone was outgrowing him. Instead of crying buckets of tears, he trudged on. The “cute elf” landed his first acting role as Rumpelstiltskin. By then he was also a “serial fender bender” because of the damage he brought to his dad’s cars.

Acting was on his mind and he found an unlikely source of encouragement — his father, who was a serious man with a strong grip on the family purse. He not only relented when Fox decided to drop out of high school for a career in Los Angeles, he drove him to Hollywood where he stayed for some time to ensure his kid had a roof over his head.

Things started on an optimistic note, landing him teenage roles in TV shows such as Leo and Me in the 1970s. But the roles kept on being similar, that of a grown man caught in a teenager’s body. He was running out of money to the point that Fox was desperately searching for nickels and dimes to buy the next meal. Just when he thought things would improve, Hollywood directors proved unkind. He remembers how Robert Redford kept flossing his teeth during a failed audition for Ordinary People.

Almost out of luck, the late director-writer Gary David Goldberg came to his rescue. He was making the now legendary sitcom Family Ties in which Fox first had a supporting role. He let his comic timing shine, propelling him to a lead role. The situational comedy was supposed to focus on the parents in the show but America fell in love with Fox and his comic timing. And so did Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis.

Fox was making a movie called Teen Wolf when the script for Back to the Future landed. He knew he had struck gold. The next few months proved to be the most challenging and rewarding. A driver would pick him up at 9.30am for his shoot for Family Ties. This is at Paramount. At 6pm another driver came to pick him for the Zemeckis gig on which he would work till sunrise. The ride of a lifetime had begun for the Boy Prince of Hollywood.

Act II: Tracyand twists

After the Back to the Future series it was a series of films with similar settings and themes. Hollywood loved him, “booze was free and I was usually the guest of honour”. He needed clarity. He needed another hit. First, he found clarity through his co-actor on Family Ties. The actress Tracy Pollan entered the show in season four. Packed with one-liners, he decided to try one on Tracy, even though it was insulting. “The moment she said her first line, I detected a hint of garlic and sensed an opportunity to have a little fun at her expense. ‘Whoa, a little scampi for lunch, babe?’”

She had a comeback line and she didn’t care about who he was. The chemistry was instant. Fox and Pollan tied the knot in 1988, before welcoming their son, Sam, in 1989. They also share twins, Schuyler and Aquinnah, and another daughter, Esmé.

Soon came the diagnosis and only pills could keep his limbs steady. “I drank to disassociate with my situation.” His career was also failing and a hit was needed. He returned to television with Spin City (created by Gary David Goldberg and Bill Lawrence) and did well to hide his ailment for years.

Act III: Life happened

On the sets, he would stay in his room for hours, popping pills to keep him steady. “I spruced up the wall with fist-sized holes,” he said. Ultimately, in 1998 he went public with his diagnosis. Slowly, he faded from the screen.

Two more things happened. He became the protagonist that far outweighs his onscreen roles — a face for the disease, trying to find successful treatments. Second, he realised there’s nothing bigger than love. Tracy continues to be his biggest support.

“You’re only as sick as your secrets,” Fox says in the documentary. With all his secrets on the table, he now revels in the joy of having a loving family, one that has brought about a stillness that has eluded him forever.