Family Ties Forever!
04-17-2006, 12:53 AM
Did anyone watch MJF on Dateline tonight? I feel so bad for him. You can clearly see how the Parkinson's is affecting him. He seems to be doing well though.
For anyone who may have missed it here's the transcript of his interview on Dateline.
Dateline NBC Michael J. Fox Transcript:
Correspondent: Michael J. Fox isn't whining about his condition. Fact is, he's just too busy, but mention his name and most people do wonder, how's he doing? Well enough to go back to one of the things he does best.
Boston Legal Video Clip
Correspondent: Michael describes being back in front of the cameras on Boston Legal, like being a right handed painter forced to paint left handed.
Correspondent: What did you mean by that exactly?
MJF: Well, when I'm acting, you know we shoot scenes, we shoot a master and then we will shoot a close up. Then we shoot the two shots or whatever. So what you're actually seeing isn't happening all at once it's a series of separate events.that are edited together.
Correspondent: Right.
MJF: So, if I go like this (motions) in the master, so I don't know when I get up to my close up if I'm going to be able to do that.
Correspondent: Right
MJF: So I have to do this kind of like this redaptive choice making and, but actually the thing that happens is, is it's really cool in that, I was really pleased with, was that, in a way it makes me a better actor, because it makes me simpler. So, the metaphor about painting left handed, right handed, is that it's not ideal, not what I choose to do, but I'm still painting.
Correspondent: The average person with Parkinson's might take as many as nineteen pills a day. Michael says he's lucky, he only takes five. One of them is called Levadopea (spelling?) which remains the gold standard for treating the symptoms of PD, but it has a noticeable side effect called disconesia (spelling?).
MJF: A lot of times when people see me like right now, the things they're noticing are not strictly speaking, the symptoms of Parkinson's. They're symptoms of the medication that I take. That the kind of rocking movement.
Correspondent: A typical day can be fraught with heiroring extremes. Michael says his challenge is navigating the passage of between on and off.
Correspondent: Off times is when the medication isn't working. Right?
MJF: But, you know, sometimes when it's like that, I kind of like it if I don't have anything to do. I'm just around the house. I like to let it go where it's going to go, and I don't know, just to see what it is, just to let it go, because I feel safe in my home. I feel safe with my kids, with Tracy. I feel safe with who I am. So it's good for me to hand check that, and just see what they bring you.
Boston Legal Video Clip
Correspondent: Though Boston Legal's expressed interest in bringing Michael back, he's not considering any permanent return to acting.
Correspondent: When he's not wearing his crusader's cap, his favorite role is playing dad. With their oldest son turning seventeen this May, and three daughters, ranging from four to eleven, Michael and his wife, Tracy Pollan, have their hands full. In more ways than one.
MJF: I was already set to learn when my daughters were born that which perceived to be lost, were just actually things that were being cleared up and adapting. Other things were filling those holes and the things that were filling those holes were much better and much bigger and much power and you know, than what I was losing. What I was losing were a lot of superficial stuff and I was gaining a lot of deep important stuff. You know knowledge, and understanding, and compassion and I think humility and just good stuff.
Correspondent: And Michael says when it comes to his kids, Parkinson's is not the elephant in the room.
Correspondent: How do they handle this?
MJF: I don't know that they notice in a way, they're so patient with some things. You know, they joke with me about some things. They're going to say, like if one of them needs a spoonful of cough medicine or something. They'll say like no, dad you're not doing that. So it's very open in our house about that. We don't talk about it a lot, but we don't not talk about it
Correspondent: Michael says his family will always be his number one priority, but he knows he's got another family depending on him too, and this actor turned activist, now sees himself as part of the greatest onsomble he's ever had the privilege of working with.
MJF: Really quickly I want to listen about me. When I get an opportunity to meet with people, I talk it, but that comradery and understanding and empathy. It's really great and also I see that people have invested a lot of hope in what I'm doing and I honor that and I want to respect it. I see such courage and such you know. There's urgency, but there's also strength. I prefer to look at it as urgency and not desperation because, too strong to be desperate, they're urgent. They're adamant and they're committed and they're hopeful.
For anyone who may have missed it here's the transcript of his interview on Dateline.
Dateline NBC Michael J. Fox Transcript:
Correspondent: Michael J. Fox isn't whining about his condition. Fact is, he's just too busy, but mention his name and most people do wonder, how's he doing? Well enough to go back to one of the things he does best.
Boston Legal Video Clip
Correspondent: Michael describes being back in front of the cameras on Boston Legal, like being a right handed painter forced to paint left handed.
Correspondent: What did you mean by that exactly?
MJF: Well, when I'm acting, you know we shoot scenes, we shoot a master and then we will shoot a close up. Then we shoot the two shots or whatever. So what you're actually seeing isn't happening all at once it's a series of separate events.that are edited together.
Correspondent: Right.
MJF: So, if I go like this (motions) in the master, so I don't know when I get up to my close up if I'm going to be able to do that.
Correspondent: Right
MJF: So I have to do this kind of like this redaptive choice making and, but actually the thing that happens is, is it's really cool in that, I was really pleased with, was that, in a way it makes me a better actor, because it makes me simpler. So, the metaphor about painting left handed, right handed, is that it's not ideal, not what I choose to do, but I'm still painting.
Correspondent: The average person with Parkinson's might take as many as nineteen pills a day. Michael says he's lucky, he only takes five. One of them is called Levadopea (spelling?) which remains the gold standard for treating the symptoms of PD, but it has a noticeable side effect called disconesia (spelling?).
MJF: A lot of times when people see me like right now, the things they're noticing are not strictly speaking, the symptoms of Parkinson's. They're symptoms of the medication that I take. That the kind of rocking movement.
Correspondent: A typical day can be fraught with heiroring extremes. Michael says his challenge is navigating the passage of between on and off.
Correspondent: Off times is when the medication isn't working. Right?
MJF: But, you know, sometimes when it's like that, I kind of like it if I don't have anything to do. I'm just around the house. I like to let it go where it's going to go, and I don't know, just to see what it is, just to let it go, because I feel safe in my home. I feel safe with my kids, with Tracy. I feel safe with who I am. So it's good for me to hand check that, and just see what they bring you.
Boston Legal Video Clip
Correspondent: Though Boston Legal's expressed interest in bringing Michael back, he's not considering any permanent return to acting.
Correspondent: When he's not wearing his crusader's cap, his favorite role is playing dad. With their oldest son turning seventeen this May, and three daughters, ranging from four to eleven, Michael and his wife, Tracy Pollan, have their hands full. In more ways than one.
MJF: I was already set to learn when my daughters were born that which perceived to be lost, were just actually things that were being cleared up and adapting. Other things were filling those holes and the things that were filling those holes were much better and much bigger and much power and you know, than what I was losing. What I was losing were a lot of superficial stuff and I was gaining a lot of deep important stuff. You know knowledge, and understanding, and compassion and I think humility and just good stuff.
Correspondent: And Michael says when it comes to his kids, Parkinson's is not the elephant in the room.
Correspondent: How do they handle this?
MJF: I don't know that they notice in a way, they're so patient with some things. You know, they joke with me about some things. They're going to say, like if one of them needs a spoonful of cough medicine or something. They'll say like no, dad you're not doing that. So it's very open in our house about that. We don't talk about it a lot, but we don't not talk about it
Correspondent: Michael says his family will always be his number one priority, but he knows he's got another family depending on him too, and this actor turned activist, now sees himself as part of the greatest onsomble he's ever had the privilege of working with.
MJF: Really quickly I want to listen about me. When I get an opportunity to meet with people, I talk it, but that comradery and understanding and empathy. It's really great and also I see that people have invested a lot of hope in what I'm doing and I honor that and I want to respect it. I see such courage and such you know. There's urgency, but there's also strength. I prefer to look at it as urgency and not desperation because, too strong to be desperate, they're urgent. They're adamant and they're committed and they're hopeful.