Michael J. Fox looks back on his Back to the future days and revealing that not every behind-the-scenes moment went as smoothly as the film’s time-traveling adventures.
The 64-year-old actor, who became a global sensation after starring as Marty McFly in the 1985 classic, opened up about the dynamics on set in his new memoir: Future Boy: Back to the future and my journey through the space-time continuum.
Fox said that while he had a great working relationship with co-star Christopher Lloyd, who played eccentric inventor Doc Brown, things were sometimes tense with Crispin Glover, who played Marty’s father, George McFly.
“As George McFly, Crispin had his own ideas about how and where his character should move,” Fox wrote. He explained that Glover’s unconventional approach often led to “tension” with writer Bob Gale and director Bob Zemeckis.
“I loved working with him. His talent was undeniable, although his methods sometimes caused friction,” Fox added. “Yet I respected how he stayed true to George (as he understood and embodied him).”
The Family ties Star also noted that he knew Glover before filming began, but admitted that nothing could have prepared him for his co-star’s unique energy.
“I knew Crispin Glover before Back to the Future. I wouldn’t say I was prepared to work with him though – there’s no way to prepare for Crispin,” he wrote.
Although Fox and Glover had their creative differences, they were not alone Back to the future cast members have a complicated start.
Lea Thompson, who played Marty’s mother Lorraine Baines-McFly in all three films, previously shared that she and Fox didn’t click right away.
Speaking about the Still here Hollywood podcast, Thompson explained that her loyalty to Eric Stoltz, who was originally cast as Marty before being replaced by Fox, created some early tension.
“Probably not because I was friends with Eric Stoltz, who had just been fired,” she said. “I had already made a film with him called The Wildlife. So he was a friend of mine.”
Thompson admitted that there was “a very big divide between movie stars and TV stars” at the time, and initially she looked to Fox, then best known for Family tiesas part of another world.
“I remember thinking he was just a TV star and I was a movie star. I was in.” Jaws 3D. It took me a while to warm up to him,” she added.
Despite these early challenges, Back to the future became one of the most beloved film trilogies of all time, proving that even a little behind-the-scenes tension couldn’t stop the cast from making cinematic history.
