Actor Michael J Fox says he is hoping for an 'undramatic death'

Michael J Fox has shared his frank thoughts about death ahead of his new role as a character with Parkinson's disease, a degenerative neurological condition.

Fox, who became a pop culture icon for his roles in Teen Wolf, Family Ties, and the Back to the Future trilogy, was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson's when he was 29.

As his disease progressed, his on-screen appearances became less frequent until he retired from acting five years ago.

But he is returning to the screen with a three-part guest appearance on the television series, Shrinking.

It comes at the same time as the release of his new book, called Future Boy, which looks at the making of the Back to the Future films.

In the middle of this combination of reflections on the past and an on-screen portrayal of his condition, Fox has been giving generous insights into life with Parkinson's.

In an interview with UK newspaper The Times, Fox spoke about the prospect of his own death.

"I'd like to just not wake up one day," he said.

"That'd be really cool. I don't want it to be dramatic. I don't want to trip over furniture, smash my head."

At 64, and more than 30 years after his diagnosis, Fox is acutely aware of his mortality.

"There's no timeline, there's no series of stages that you go through — not in the same way that you would, say, with prostate cancer," he told The Times.

Fox will feature in three episodes of Shrinking, a series in which Harrison Ford plays a psychologist with Parkinson's disease.

This comes five years after Fox said he was retiring from acting; however, he jokes that he's "always retiring" after calling it quits in 2000.

Since then, he has had a handful of roles, including appearances in Scrubs, The Good Wife, and Rescue Me— which earned him another Emmy award.

Fox did not give much detail about his latest role in an interview with US entertainment outlet People, only that he was playing a person with Parkinson's disease.

"It was the first time ever I got to show up on-set, and I didn't have to worry about am I too tired or coughing or anything," he told People.

"It was really good because for the moments when I [would have said], 'I'm not going to be able to do this,' then I say, 'Well, I'll just deal with how I can't do it in the scene.'

"And you get through it."

Fox has been a vocal advocate for people with Parkinson's disease, launching a foundation that has raised more than $US2 billion in research for the condition.

He was presented the US Presidential Medal of Freedom for his advocacy work earlier this year.

Last year he starred in a documentary called Still: A Michael J Fox Movie, in which he talked about life with the disease.

"The sad sack story is Michael J Fox gets this debilitating disease and it crushes him," an interview puts to him in an interview.

"Yeah, that's boring," Fox replies.

In a separate story published by People, Fox explained how he made sure to "seize" the good things in life.

"I keep getting new challenges physically, and I get through it," he said.

"I roll around in a wheelchair a lot, and it took some getting used to."

Fox told People about how seeing other people's work inspired him to keep working as an actor and a writer.

"And as a parent, husband and friend, I have a lot left to do," he said.

Parkinson's disease is neurological condition that mainly impacts a person's movements and moods, federally funded health website Healthdirect says.

It was named after British doctor James Parkinson, who described the disease in a work called Essay on the Shaking Palsy in 1817.

The disease is generally associated with uncontrollable tremors, but symptoms vary from person to person.

"Parkinson's affects both motor and non-motor functions; everyone experiences it differently," Parkinson's Australia's website says.

Parkinson's Australia divides key symptoms into two categories: motor and non-motor.

"Motor symptoms are a hallmark of Parkinson's, significantly impacting movement and daily activities," its website says.

The hallmark motor symptoms of Parkinson's include:

But it also points out other possible symptoms such as:

"Early symptoms of Parkinson's may occur decades before the more noticeable motor symptoms appear," Parkinson's Australia's website says.

"Recognising these early signs can prompt further investigation and lead to early intervention."

Here are the signs it says to watch for: