Ryan Reynolds honors Michael J. Fox for helping people with Parkinson's disease, including his late father
(CNN) — Ryan Reynolds is honoring his friend Michael J. Fox for a special occasion.
Fox was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people on Wednesday, for which Reynolds wrote a moving passage about the impact that Fox has had on his family and others.
In the blurb, Reynolds wrote that he knows Fox “pretty damn well,” adding that “he’s funny. He’s warm. He’s handsome and intensely smart.”
“He also falls a lot,” the “Deadpool” star continued. “Not just because he has Parkinson’s. He falls a lot because he’s unafraid to fly.” He went on to write that throughout their 17-year friendship, he’s watched Fox “raise the bar for purpose and passion” for Parkinson’s research.
Fox was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson’s disease in 1991 at age 29. In 2000, the “Back to the Future” actor launched the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, an organization dedicated to finding a cure for the disease through research and ensuring improved therapies.
This week, Reynolds wrote that Fox helped his late father James Reynolds – who had lived with Parkinson’s for nearly 20 years – and millions of others “feel less alone.” James Reynolds died in 2015.
Describing Fox as a movie star who “shaped the lives of people all over the planet with a uniquely electric wit and self-aware charm,” Reynolds also shared that after recently watching “Back to the Future” with his 8-year-old daughter, it’s since become her favorite film.
“I know how lucky I am to call Mike a friend,” he wrote, adding that his daughter still has “no idea” that her dad knows Marty McFly. “I don’t need to teach my daughter the level of compassion Mike has mastered. Or teach her to tell stories the way Mike tells stories.”
“I need to teach her that it’s OK to fall a lot,” Reynolds wrote. “It’s the absolute best way to know you’re flying.”
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