Yahoo Finance Michael J. Fox Jokes About the Benefits of Being an Empty Nester with Wife Tracy Pollan: 'We Get More Food'
Michael J. Fox jokes about what it's like to be an empty nester since he and wife Tracy Pollan's youngest daughter Esme, 19, went off to college at the celebration of 20 years of the Michael J. Fox Foundation event in the Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York on Saturday night.
"We get more food," Fox tells PEOPLE exclusively.
The Emmy-winning actor tied the knot with Pollan in 1988 and also share son Sam, 32, and twin daughters Aquinnah and Schuyler, 26. Pollan jokes with PEOPLE about the couple's four kids not being there to eat all of the family food, "They're not taking it all."
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Fox was first diagnosed with Parkinson's, a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system, in 1991 and went public with his diagnosis in 1998. He tells PEOPLE how the star-studded benefit featuring performances by Sting and Brad Paisley is social media-worthy, "People are dying to come to this show, it's going to explore with social content."
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The 60-year-old Back to the Future star is grateful for the aid from his entertainment peers. "Oh, if you have industry support for the foundation, it's amazing," Fox explains, adding that it's important to be considerate of his fellow entertainers. "You don't want to take advantage of those relationships, you don't want to press them, but it's lovely to see people step in and have a connection and they call me and they let me know what they're doing and it's amazing."
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Fox also jokes about his spouse getting onstage during the event, "Tracy is going to jam with Brad Paisley," before Pollan clarifies her role, "I'm going to dance, I don't play or sing."
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The foundation has raised over $1 billion to date for Parkinson's research, but Fox insists there is still more work to be done: "With the billion dollars in research that we funded, it's great, we're doing more things but we're not done yet."
What is the secret to the longtime couple's marriage? Fox reveals, "Like each other," and Pollan shares, "We enjoy each other's company and we just have fun together and so it's not that hard for us, we're lucky."
