Michael J. Fox is teaming up with Harrison Ford for a new PSA about Parkinson’s disease.
In a Thursday, September 2, YouTube video for The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, Fox, 65, took a seat beside Ford, 84, to discuss how to show up for a friend battling the incurable progressive brain disorder.
In the clip, Fox, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at age 29 in 1991, shared that his No. 1 tip is to not “make it weird” before joking that Ford should “write that down.”
“I don’t have to write it down. I have a mental note,” Ford said, while Fox quipped, “My handwriting sucks.”
Fox then advised Ford to “start simple” with the friend and say something like, “Thanks for telling me.” From Fox’s perspective, Ford doesn’t “need to do any fancy speeches.”
“Good, I hate big speeches,” Ford said, to which Fox joked, “That’s clear.”
While Ford noted that “most people’s first instinct is to try and help,” Fox recommended trying “not to confuse helping with fixing.” He explained, “Saying you found a cure on the internet is not helping.”
For Fox, the biggest mistake people can make is worrying “so much about saying the wrong thing that they stop saying anything.” Instead, he advised a friend to ask about getting lunch together.
“OK, I think I got it,” Ford replied. “Don’t make it weird. Start simple. Help, don’t fix. Keep showing up.”
Fox then shook Ford’s hand and stated that he’s “officially qualified to be a friend.”
Fox went public with his diagnosis in 1998 and appeared in season 3 of Shrinking earlier this year alongside Ford, whose character, Dr. Paul Rhoades, has Parkinson’s.
In an episode of the beloved Apple TV show, Fox sat beside Ford in the waiting room of a medical center.
“What are you in for?” Fox’s character, Gerry, asked Paul, who replied, “Parkinson’s. You?” Fox quipped, “Just a haircut,” and the twosome laughed.
Ahead of Fox’s appearance, Ford shared that he took his story line “deadly f***ing seriously.”
“There are people that absorb these kinds of experiences with grace and courage and a little bit of wisdom,” Ford told People in 2024. “It’s just to say that this is a person particularly equipped to communicate what it’s like, and that is something that I feel that is worth sharing with our audience.”
Ford shared that he feels like he’s “telling a story,” adding, “The story I’m telling is a story that I know, and so I can just simply feel it.”
