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Michael J. Fox and lifelong friend Woody Harrelson may as well be blood brothers.
While presenting Fox with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 2022 Governors Awards in Los Angeles on Saturday, Harrelson recounted a shocking tale from when he visited the “Back to the Future” star in Thailand in 1989.
Harrelson, 61, said he and Fox, also 61, went out one night when they stumbled upon a kid putting on a fight “between a cobra and a mongoose.”
“He taunted a bunch of these cobras and then he found the orneriest cobra, grabbed it by the neck, threw it in a cage with mongoose, where I saw the craziest fight I’ve ever seen between any animals other than studio executives,” the “Zombieland” actor joked.
“And the mongoose won, they took the snake, yep, tied it by its tail, run the blood out, half-filled four glasses with cobra blood and half with Thai whiskey,” he continued, noting that “drinking the cobra blood is called ‘becoming brother to the snake.’”
Although Harrelson said his Canadian buddy can usually “hold his own” when it comes to drinking, the “Hunger Games” actor reveled that Fox “promptly vomited his snake cocktail.”
After recalling the jaw-dropping tale, Harrelson went on to praise Fox, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 1991, for turning “a chilling diagnosis into a courageous mission.”
The “Casualties of War” star created a foundation in Fox’s name in 2000 and has since raised over $1 billion to find the cure for Parkinson’s disease.
“He never asked for the role of Parkinson’s advocate, but it is his best performance,” Harrelson said. “Michael J. Fox sets the ultimate example of how to fight and how to live.”
After making his way up to the podium amid a lengthy standing ovation, Fox thanked Harrelson for his years-long friendship and constant support.
“I love you. We did some damage,” Fox said to Harrelson. “We did some damage in the ’80s.”
Fox has always had an optimistic outlook on life despite battling the debilitating disease for over 30 years.
“I refer to Parkinson’s as the gift that keeps on taking. But it truly has been a gift,” he said during his speech.
He dittoed these sentiments last year in a profile for AARP magazine, saying he’s “happy” with his life despite the circumstances.
“I’m really blunt with people about cures. When they ask me if I will be relieved of Parkinson’s in my lifetime, I say, ‘I’m 60 years old, and science is hard. So, no,’” Fox said.
“I am genuinely a happy guy. I don’t have a morbid thought in my head — I don’t fear death. At all.”
