At the 2024 BAFTA Film Awards on Sunday, Michael J. Fox was overcome with emotion and got a standing ovation.

The well-liked actor, who has been fighting Parkinson’s disease for many years, gave “Oppenheimer” the best film award at the glamorous event that took place at London’s Royal Festival Hall.

Fox, 62, entered the stage via a wheelchair and proceeded to stand at the podium.

Michael J. Fox’s On Stage Statements

Despite receiving a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis in 1991, Michael J. Fox—best known for playing Marty McFly in the “Back to the Future” trilogy—kept up his career until his retirement in 2020.

As Fox took the stage, celebrities like Ryan Gosling, Robert Downey Jr., and Margot Robbie received a standing ovation.

Regarding the nominated movies Oppenheimer, Poor Things, Anatomy of a Fall, The Holdovers, and Killers of the Flower Moon, Fox stated that these movies had the power to unite people regardless of their background or identity.

He went on to say that there was a cause for the claim that movies were magical. He went on to say that a movie had the power to uplift someone’s spirits, alter their perspective, and occasionally even transform their life.

“Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” a 2023 documentary that documents the beloved actor’s life and career, was nominated for a BAFTA Award. The film was defeated by the Associated Press and PBS production “20 Days in Mariupol.”

According to the National Institute on Aging, Parkinson’s disease is the fastest-growing neurodegenerative illness in the United States. It is an irreversible brain ailment that progresses over time and causes unintentional or involuntary movements, such as shaking, stiffness, and problems with balance and coordination.

In addition to his five Emmy Awards, Michael J. Fox has a Grammy, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, and four Golden Globe wins.

Following Fox’s moving performance, viewers reacted on social media, with many expressing they were in tears after listening to the 62-year-old actor speak.

The actor founded the Michael J. Fox Foundation to provide Parkinson’s Research in 2000. Tennant told the assembly that the group had already raised about $2 billion.

In it, Fox discusses the shock of his diagnosis, how it affected his family greatly, how it affected him emotionally, and how it made him turn to heavy drinking and other coping techniques.

The celebrity remarked in a 2009 interview with Good Housekeeping that because he has Parkinson’s disease, his children have learned empathy, resilience, and how to separate what is important from what isn’t.

During an interview on “Sunday Today With Willie Geist” in 2020, Fox mentioned that he looked up to his children because they were all taller, smarter, and more attractive than him.

According to what he said in a May 2023 interview, he chose to maintain control over his story while he adapted to a new normal by keeping the diagnosis a secret for seven years.

At the time, he stated that they would tell his narrative before he was aware of what it was.

The actor from “Spin City” has been injured in the past; in 2018, he broke his upper arm healing from a dangerous spinal surgery to remove a noncancerous tumor.

 

Fox revealed in 2020 that he was waiting for an ambulance to arrive while lying on the floor of his kitchen with a broken arm. He continued, saying he kind of went. Fox claimed that he thought to himself at the moment how foolish he was.

Fox cried out that he was miserable back then, even though all that time he had been pushing everyone to be positive and chin up. Fox claimed that there was no way to make things better and that all that was left was sorrow and remorse.

Also Read: ‘Madame Web’, 2024, Previews And Reactions