Michael J. Fox Says He and Wife of 32 Years Tracy Pollan Laugh Every Day 'for a Good 2 Minutes'

Michael J. Fox Says He and His Wife of 32 Years Tracy Pollan Laugh Every Day "For a Good 2 Minutes"

The actor opens up about his new memoir, “No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality,” his recent health issues that inspired the book, and the secret to how he and his wife have stayed happily married for more than thirty years.

Since tying the knot 32 years ago, Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan's love has only grown deeper.

“Every day we have something we laugh about for a good two minutes,” the actor, 59, tells PEOPLE about Pollan in this week's cover story.

“The kind of support she gives me, I feel like a husband, a father and a friend first, and then somewhere way down the line, I’m someone with Parkinson’s," says Fox.

Fox, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1991 and went public with the diagnosis in 1998, met Pollan in the summer of 1985, when she auditioned for Family Ties. Though she departed the show after one season, they reunited for the film Bright Lights, Big City in 1987. He asked her to lunch, they started dating, and they wed a year later.

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In the three-plus decades that they've been married, Fox has leaned on Pollan and their three children — son Sam, 31, twin daughters Aquinnah and Schuyler, 25, and daughter Esmé, 19 — for support as he navigates his ongoing health battle.

"My kids are adults now,” the Back to the Future star says. “I never held back about my situation before, but now I really can speak plainly.”

RELATED: Michael J. Fox Reveals Painful Setback That Led to His ‘Darkest Moment’ Since Parkinson’s Diagnosis

Noam Galai/Getty Tracy Pollan and Michael J. Fox

Tracy Pollan Instagram Michael J. Fox with his wife and children

Watch the full episode of People Cover Story: Michael J. Fox streaming now on PeopleTV.com, or download the PeopleTV app on your favorite device.

Unrelated to Parkinson's disease, Fox underwent a successful surgery in 2018 for a noncancerous tumor on his spine that tested his resolve and caused him to make additional lifestyle changes. Though Fox had to re-learn to walk and now struggles with memorization, he insists that despite the health challenges, "I’m actually having a really good time."

“People don’t believe me, but I love life," says Fox, whose fourth memoir No Time Like the Future is out Nov. 17.

"I love being with my family. I love being with Tracy," he says. "I love that I don’t do a lot of useless stuff that I used to do, because I don’t have the energy or the time."