Michael J. Fox's acting career ended very prematurely due to his Parkinson's, and for the past two decades he has only acted rather sparingly as a result. But in the halcyon days of the 80s, he was one of the biggest names around, thanks in no small part to the Back the Future series, and it seems this is an era he sorely misses.
In an interview with People magazine, Fox talks about how he perceives the difference between being famous then and now, saying that nowadays you can become famous for anything thanks to social media and adds that actors used to be tougher:
"There's an expression I referenced 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.' 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 then went on to explain that in the 80s you had to be talented to be successful, and describes how hard the celebrities of that era had to work:
"Well, you had to be talented. That helped. 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. 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."
What do you think, is there a difference between the stars of the 80s and today?