) didn’t think he was the right fit to helm itIt took time for Guggenheim to convince himself that he was, yet that certainty gave way to new concerns. He wanted to make sure thatwasn’t going to be the documentary you’d expect about Fox—because Fox’s story isn’t what you’d expect, either. Davis spoke with The Daily Beast’s Obsessed about subverting tropes about celebrities and survivors and the powerful, surprising lessons that Fox can teach us.
It’s in his writing. His books are so well written. There's great storytelling about waking up in a hotel in Florida with his finger moving, thinking it’s a moth. There’s great storytelling about him doingat the same time. And obviously, he’s Michael J. Fox, so he’s funny. But there’s a wisdom in what he has to say that I was really drawn to. He has something to say about life. He’s 60. I’m almost 60. That felt really powerful to me, about what it means to be mortal.
There’s prejudice we have of people with disabilities. There’s also prejudice we have of people who are funny. The Academy Awards rarely honors funny people. That’s weird. I thought, “Oh, Michael J. Fox, he’s funny. He’s handsome. He’s quick with a joke.” And maybe the next thought was, “Oh, [he’s probably] not particularly deep.” The surprise of Michael, which I feel is part of my prejudice, is that he is incredibly deep.
I remember going, “That’s awfully young. Isn’t Parkinson's an old person’s disease?” But again, I wasn’t the person who watchedevery week. There are some people who feel so intensely close to him, because they’ve watched everything. I wasn’t that person. […] I probably said, “That’s sad,” and moved on with my day. Only now do I understand what a big deal that was, and the fact that he had kept that secret for so long, and what it meant to keep that secret.
I think people expect something with this movie. I have friends who say, “I’m coming to your movie. I’m bringing my box of tissues with me.” It's kind of odd, because people often do cry at this movie.But what I don't want to do is follow the trope. I don’t think Michael wants to be put in a box. He doesn't want to be seen as heroic. I think he wants to be seen as Michael J. Fox. He is a guy who just took the thing on and is living his life and wants to be understood.