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By India McCarty
For Michael J. Fox, his most important legacy will be living “my best life.”
“My late father-in-law wrote a book once called Die Broke,” the actor recently told the Los Angeles Times. “The theory being spend all your money now. I don’t mean just money. Your gift, your nectar. Spend it all now, and spend it on your kids, on people you love. I don’t think about legacy.”
He continued, “Certainly, the foundation will be around and our work will continue. It’d be nice to have it done before I die, but I don’t know if that will happen. We’re certainly getting closer. Legacy is other people’s business; my business is to live my best life, do the best I can, the best work I can, seize opportunities…and continue to write my story until the pin drops.”
The BACK TO THE FUTURE actor, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991, recently returned to acting with a role in SHRINKING.
Related: How Michael J. Fox and His Wife Balance Family, Work and Parkinson’s
“The depth of character, the quality of relationships, the language — it’s just a beautiful show,” he explained, via Variety, of his decision to accept the role. “And I thought, just do that for its own sake. I don’t have an agenda. Don’t have to be coming back into acting or anything. It’ll be fun. And there’s Harrison Ford, which is insane.”
Fox stressed that this role is “not the beginning of any campaign to reestablish my career” but just him taking a role he found interesting.
In a recent interview with PEOPLE, Fox spoke about his experience on the set of SHRINKING, saying, “It was the first time ever I get to show up on-set, and I didn’t have to worry about am I too tired or coughing or anything. I just do it.”
“I wake up and get the message of what the day is gonna be like, and I try to adjust to it,” Fox said of his condition. “I keep getting new challenges physically, and I get through it. I roll around in a wheelchair a lot, and it took some getting used to. You take the good, and you seize it.”
The actor also shared that he’s interested in pursuing work in other creative fields, as well as continuing to be a present father and husband.
“I see other people’s work, and it makes me think that I might be able to find something that’s for me as an actor and as a writer,” he explained. “And as a parent, husband and friend, I have a lot left to do.”
From roles in beloved movies and shows to his tireless work on behalf of others struggling with Parkinson’s, Fox’s mission to “live [his] best life” is already well under way.
Read Next: Michael J. Fox on His Parkinson’s Fight: ‘There’s a Time for Everything’
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