Michael J. Fox fell in love with his wife when she called him a ‘f**king a**hole’ for on-set joke

Michael J. Fox has opened up about the moment when he knew he loved his now-wife Tracy Pollan.

The two starred on the hugely popular sitcom Family Ties and Pollan was cast as Fox's love interest in the show.

At this point in Fox's career, he was on cloud nine.

He had become a household name from the show and that was only further cemented when he starred in Back to the Future.

The actor admits he had become quite cocky and thought it would be funny to play a joke on his co-star.

In his documentary, titled Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, he recalled the moment that happened on set.

"One day, we broke for lunch," he said. "After lunch, we picked up where we left off.

"The moment she said her first line, I detected a hint of garlic and sensed an opportunity to have a little fun at her expense. 'Whoa, a little scampi for lunch, babe?'

"At first she said nothing. Her expression didn't even change.

"But looking me dead in the eyes she said slowly, 'That was mean, and rude, and you're a complete and total f**ing a**hole'."

Fox says he wasn't ready for that sort of backlash and thought his joke was going to go down a lot better than that.

"Nobody talked to me that way," he said.

"This woman was completely unintimidated by whoever I thought I was.

"A pig is a pig no matter how many hit movies he's just had."

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The Back to the Future star went on to explain that while he was a little taken aback by Tracy's comment, he realised how much he respected her for standing up to him.

"She was joking, but I didn't get it because no one would ever joke with me like that," Fox said in his documentary.

"I was not the butt of any jokes.

"She just poked through that, like, you're a scared little kid and I'll just call you out.

"In that moment I fell in love with her."

They married in 1988 and have been happily together ever since.

Earlier this year, his wife opened up about the secret to their 34-year marriage.

Tracy told PEOPLE: "I think we really listen to each other, we are there for each other when we need each other.

"And then we also give each other space when that's needed.

"Just feeling off of what's needed at the moment and trying to be there."