Michael J. Fox talks about how Parkinson's disease changed his approach to acting

Michael J. Fox, who stars in the upcoming The Michael J. Fox Show, talks about how being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease has changed his approach to acting.

Fox, who is starring in the upcoming series, The Michael J. Fox Show (in which he plays a news anchor struggling with Parkinson's), appears as the cover story in the latest issue of Rolling Stone, talking about how he changed his physical reactions in scenes, in turn altering his approach as an actor.

He said, "I had a certain fluidity to my movements and rhythm of speech and a physicality that I had depended on," Fox tells the magazine. "It served me really well, but when that was taken away, I found that there was other stuff that I could use. That hesitation, that Parkinsonian affect, is an opportunity to just pause in a moment and collect as a character and respond to what’s happening and just gave me this kind of gravitas. It really gave me a new view of things."

Fox also notes that he doesn't have as much anxiety since he has had the disease. "I used to be really nervous and sit in my dressing room and fret about a scene that was coming up and sweat it out and say 'What am I going to do? You say action and I have to do something. What am I going to do? And what's that actor going to do? And how do I respond to that?' And now it's just like 'Okay, what's happening?' And something happens, I react to it and if nothing happens, I don't react. I don't worry about that bit I was going to do or the look I was gonna give because when I get there I may not be able to give that look or do that thing or move that glass."

I'm definitely tuning into his show!

The Michael J. Fox Show premieres on September 26th at 9pm ET on NBC.