Michael J. Fox Thought of Leonardo DiCaprio in ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ When He Decided to Stop Acting: ‘It Was Peaceful’

Michael J. Fox revealed to Empire magazine (via IndieWire) that Leonardo DiCaprio and Quentin Tarantino crossed his mind when he landed on the decision to stop acting for good amid his Parkinsons disease. The Back to the Future icon was filming scenes for the television series The Good Fight at the time and was struggling to remember his lines.

I thought of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood,' Fox said. Theres a scene where Leonardo DiCaprios character cant remember his lines anymore. He goes back to his dressing room and hes screaming at himself in the mirror. Just freaking insane. I had this moment where I was looking in the mirror and thought, I cannot remember it anymore. Well, lets move on. It was peaceful.

The scene Fox referenced is one of the more memorable sequences in Tarantinos Hollywood. DiCaprios character, the actor Rick Darlton, has an over-the-top meltdown over forgetting his lines and trashes his trailer in a fit of rage. Tarantino previously revealed that DiCaprio improvised the meltdown.

It wasnt in the script actually, so we never rehearsed it or anything, Tarantino said. Leo had a whole thing. At some point it was like, Look, I need to fuck up during the Lancer sequence, all right? And when I fuck up during the Lancer sequence, I need to have a real crisis of conscience about it and I have to come back from that.

Fox recently graced the cover of Variety magazine and spoke honestly about living with Parkinsons disease. The actor said, Ive won more awards and had more nominations since I announced my diagnosis. It may be that people feel bad for me, but I prefer to look at it as an acknowledgment for continuing to have a legitimate career.

When presented with the idea that hes a hero for living so openly with his diagnosis, Fox said, Its just a nice way of people letting me know they are moved by my acceptance of things and by the way that Ive tried to make a difference. But no matter how much I sit here and talk to you about how Ive philosophically accepted it and taken its weight, Parkinsons is still kicking my ass. I wont win at this. I will lose. But, theres plenty to be gained in the loss.

Foxs biographical documentary Still is now available to stream on Apple TV+.