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"Now you’ve got people who just go like, 'Who's your sweater? What's your sweater you’re wearing? And what's that dance step?' And you're the most famous person in the world."
Michael J. Fox isn't totally here for the overnight success some stars are experiencing these days.
In a new interview with People for the magazine's 50th anniversary special, Fox looked back on his rise to fame and the work he had to put in in the 1980s to achieve the success he's amassed today.
"There's an expression I referred to when they gave me an honorary Academy Award -- somebody said to me the day before, they were talking about getting this award and being famous and they said 'You're '80s famous,'" Fox told the outlet. "I thought, 'Wow, that's cool.' '80s famous. Right, we were different. We were tougher. We didn't have social media, we didn't have any of that crap. We were just famous. Left to our own resources. And it was an amazing time."
Fox's star rose thanks to roles in shows like Palmerstown U.S.A., Night Court and Family Ties, and cemented himself in the Hollywood zeitgeist as Marty McFly for the Back to the Future franchise, a series of films that became American '80s classics.
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When asked if he thought that being famous during that time was harder, Fox had a pretty blunt answer: "Well, you had to be talented. That helped."
"We used to bust our a--, our acting muscles and watch other actors and sit around with other actors and talk about acting and talk about it," he continued. "And now you've got people who just go like, 'Who's your sweater? What's your sweater you're wearing? And what’s that dance step?' And you're the most famous person in the world."
While Fox hasn't acted since 2020 because of his battle with Parkinson's disease, which has made it increasingly difficult to remember dialogue, he said he would consider coming back to acting if the role felt right.
"My biggest goal, I think, was to raise a family. We have four amazing kids, and that’s been the big thing," Fox told Entertainment Tonight earlier this month. "And then the other is with the [Michael J. Fox] foundation…[however] if something came up that I could put my realities into it -- my challenges -- if I could figure it out."
He added, "If someone offers me a part and I do it and I have a good time, great."
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