Back to the Future’s Michael J. Fox shared details on how the production team worked tirelessly to keep the news about the lead actor being swapped under wraps. Fox said that he “was rushed” into the production and “didn’t have time to think about it.”
Back to the Future initially didn’t reveal Michael J. Fox had replaced Eric Stoltz
Michael J. Fox recounted the events when he replaced Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly in Back to the Future after just six weeks into the production.
“I don’t think the public were aware of it until we were doing it. I was rushed on it, six weeks in, and I had no kind of time talk about it,” Fox told Entertainment Weekly.
Fox also shared that even Stoltz wasn’t aware of being replaced until his deal was “locked in.” He said that Steven Spielberg, the producer, was “afraid that if they let him go prematurely,” “the whole film could implode.”
Nelle Fortenberry, co-author of Fox’s upcoming memoir, Future Boy, was also present during the interview. The co-author chimed in with more details.
“They managed to keep the fact that Eric had left the movie and Michael was coming on the movie a secret until Michael started,” Fortenberry explained. However, she shared that the news eventually broke out with several publications branding the movie as “troubled.” Considering all the negative headlines, Fortenberry recalled thinking, “So I think a lot of people in the business thought, ‘Oh, this must be a mess. This is just a hot mess, this movie.’”
Fox then explained how abrupt it felt to join the production, as the actors had already shot several scenes. “The first time I saw [Christopher Lloyd] was when he jumped out the van,” adding, “I hadn’t talked to him, had never spoken to him about my character. Luckily, he jumped out and did this thing, I thought, ‘Holy s—, it’s going to be great. He’s crazy.’”
Talking about his co-stars, Lea Thompson and Crispin Glover, Fox said, “They all had shot for six weeks. So they had stuff in the can where they had been acting with [another] actor. I had no past with it. I had no history with it, but I just jumped in and did it.”
Despite the hesitation, Fox eventually settled in. He described the experience as “really sweet. Particularly with Lea, because she was so fantastic. She was so sweet and so good, just magical.”
Originally reported by Harsha Panduranga for ComingSoon.
