Michael J. Fox Says Being Famous Was “Tougher” in the ’80s: “You Had to Be Talented”

Michael J. Fox is sharing his thoughts on how Hollywood has changed over the decades.

In a recent interview with People magazine, the Emmy-winning actor, who rose to fame in the 1980s following his roles in Palmerstown U.S.A., Night Court, Family Ties and Back to the Future, compared the entertainment industry now to when he got his start.

“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 recalled. “I thought, wow, that’s cool. ‘80s famous. Right, we were different.”

He added, “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.”

The Spin City alum was later asked if he thought becoming famous back then was “harder” than it is today. “Well, you had to be talented. That helped,” he said in response.

“We used to bust our ass, our acting muscles and watch other actors and sit around with other actors and talk about acting and talk about it,” Fox 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.”

Fox stepped away from onscreen work in 2020 after having been open about his struggles with his memory and remembering lines of dialogue due to his battle with Parkinson’s disease. However, he told Entertainment Tonight earlier this month that he wasn’t completely against taking on another acting role “if something came up that I could put my realities into it — my challenges — if I could figure it out.”

The Back to the Future Part II actor added that doing his 2023 Apple TV+ documentary Still “just happened” and ended up being a “big thrill,” so “if someone offers me a part, and I do it, and I have a good time, great.”