Director wanted to show disease can hit early in life

Posted: 4:02 PM Nov 18, 2010
Read Interview: http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/ent...109056869.html

Next week marks the release of “Love and Other Drugs” starring Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal and directed by Edward Zwick.

Excerpt from Inteview: "EZ: I wanted to show that Parkinson’s can begin early — in this case with someone in their 20s — like my friend Michael J. Fox. He self-medicated and was in denial for a long time, and generally speaking movies focusing on a disease like this concentrate on older individuals. That it can happen to such a vital, sexually charged woman like Anne’s character I think makes it all the more poignant. Being that it is set in the mid-’90s just after the FDA removed restrictions regarding the advertising of prescription drugs on television also played into the story. We chose Viagra because it was the most obvious and recognizable, but there were many drugs advertised for other ailments that began suggesting a quick fix for everything and it affected our society in a huge way."