Michael J. Fox Reveals Major Regret He Has – It Involves Whoopi Goldberg

The Hollywood star Michael J. Fox has lived a storied life that has included many ups and downs, but there is one regret he has that has stuck with him for decades, and it surprisingly involves Whoopi Goldberg.

Fox Turned Down Ghost Role

During a recent appearance on the ABC talk show “The View,” Fox revealed that he still regrets turning down a chance to work with Goldberg in the 1990 classic film Ghost, which she went on to win an Oscar for.

“There was a chance to work with you that I missed. They talked to me about Ghost early on. I said, ‘It’ll never work.’ I said, ‘Whoopi is great but it’ll never work,'” recalled Fox, 61. “And then it was great, and huge and I’m a f***ing idiot.”

“Well, you know what? There’s still time,” replied Goldberg, 67. “So, yeah, we’ll find something to do now.”

The role that Fox turned down was eventually played by the late Patrick Swayze, who tragically died in 2009 at the age of 57 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Check out Fox and Goldberg’s exchange about this starting around the 5:45 mark in the video below.

Related: Michael J. Fox Admits He Doesn’t Have Long To Live Amidst Parkinson’s Battle – ‘I’m Not Going To Be 80’

Fox Retires From Acting

Unfortunately for Goldberg, however, she likely won’t be able to “find something to do” with Fox in Hollywood, given the fact that he’s retired from acting.

“There is a time for everything, and my time of putting in a 12-hour workday, and memorizing seven pages of dialogue, is best behind me,” Fox wrote in his 2020 memoir, according to The New York Post.

“At least for now … I enter a second retirement,” he continued. “That could change, because everything changes. But if this is the end of my acting career, so be it.”

Fox further opened up about what led him to retire in an interview earlier this year.

“I thought of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. There’s a scene where Leonardo DiCaprio’s character can’t remember his lines anymore. He goes back to his dressing room and he’s screaming at himself in the mirror. Just freaking insane,” Fox said, according to CNN. “I had this moment where I was looking in the mirror and thought, ‘I cannot remember it anymore.’”

Fox dealt with this realization calmly, telling himself, “‘Well, let’s move on.’ It was peaceful.”

Related: Michael J. Fox Gives Sad Update About His Health After Battling Parkinson’s For Over 30 Years

Fox’s Parkinson’s Struggle

Last month, Fox told CBS News that Parkinson’s is “the gift that keeps on giving.”

“I’m not gonna lie. It’s getting harder,” Fox said. “Every day it’s tougher.”

The former Back To The Future star went on to say that he recently underwent spinal surgery for a benign tumor, and has suffered two broken arms, a broken hand and broken bones in his face from various falls.

“(Falling) is a big killer with Parkinson’s,” Fox explained. “It’s falling, and aspirating food and pneumonia — all these subtle ways that (it) gets you. You don’t die from Parkinson’s. You die with Parkinson’s.”

Fox is a truly incredible actor, so it’s sad that Parkinson’s has ended his career early. While Swayze was a perfect fit for Ghost, and it’s hard to see anyone else in his role, it would have been fun to have seen what Fox would have done with it.