In his new book, Michael J. Fox, 64, details the miraculous and exhausting circumstances that led him to star in Back to the Future.
Eric Stoltz was originally hired to play the hapless Marty McFly, who accidentally travels back in time to the 1950s and “meets” his future parents.
Fox was the first choice for the film’s producers, including Steven Spielberg. However, at the time he was starring in the hit comedy ‘Family Ties’. The show’s head, Gary David Goldberg, abandoned the idea of him playing a movie role.
“[He]said it was impossible for him to consider me for the role because of my commitment to ‘Family Ties,'” Foxx writes in his new memoir, Future Boy: Back to the Future and My Journey Through the Space-Time Continuum (Flatiron Books, on sale Tuesday).
But a few weeks later, Goldberg’s personal friend Spielberg called him and asked for help.
“They filmed for over a month,” Fox wrote. “Eric was a very talented actor, but the creative team didn’t feel he was right for Marty McFly. Director Spielberg came back to Gary and begged him to share it with me.”
Goldberg agreed to play Alex P. Keaton, an ambitious young Republican with ex-hippie parents, as long as Fox didn’t interfere with his schedule.
The young star ended up working second shift. During the day, they filmed “Family Ties” on the Paramount lot, then headed to Universal to film “Back to the Future.” He slept only a few hours each night.
His attorney, Bob Gersh, later said, “It would never work today because our business overlaps with lawyers, administrative offices and insurance companies.” “Currently, film projects require a two-week buffer time for both jobs.”
Fox also faced problems with the film’s cast and crew not being very welcoming when filming began.
Lea Thompson, who played her mother in Back to the Future, was said to be “in a bad mood” when they met on set.
Thompson had previously worked with Stoltz and was “bitter about being let go…I was on the receiving end of that feeling,” Fox recalls.
She later sheepishly admitted that she had “a certain advantage” over Fox because she was a film actor while Fox was a television actor.
However, after filming their first scene together, that feeling quickly dissipated when Marty woke up in his mother’s bedroom and found that they had both “developed a trusting relationship.”
Fox was amazed at how lucky he was.
During the midnight shooting of “Back to the Future,” the catering team set up tables full of food.
“In my daze, I exclaimed, ‘Wow, all this stuff is free,'” Fox wrote. “Did I say that out loud? Already sleep-deprived, my inner broken actor came out, the guy who moments before this moment had been picking day-old cookies out of the trash can behind the bakery.”
Starr, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991, writes fondly of Stolz. “From what I’ve gathered, Eric’s Marty is much more sinister than mine, and we’re approached through the lens of Marty’s altered reality at the end of the movie,” he points out.
While writing Future Boy, Fox contacted Stoltz, now 64, and asked if he would be interested in talking about his Back to the Future experience. The “Mask” actor declined, but met Foxx for coffee at his apartment.
“Our two-hour conversation revealed a mutual love of our craft, rooted in classic film,” Fox wrote. “Eric and I have maintained a friendly correspondence in the months since we met…His emails are definitely witty and always fun to read.”
Foxx also reflected on his time on “Family Ties,” which made him famous.
He was struggling to find work after moving from Canada when he booked the NBC sitcom, which was originally scheduled to focus on his parents, played by Michael Gross and Meredith Baxter.
For the first year, Baxter picked up Foxx every day and went to the set with him. The young actor did not have a car and commuted to work by bus.
It was clear early on that Back to the Future was going to be a huge hit. The movie was tested through the roof.
It opened on July 4th weekend, less than 10 weeks after it ended.
Surprisingly, Foxx was absent from the film’s premiere as he was filming Family Ties in London. Upon returning to Los Angeles, he slipped into a movie theater and watched a movie.
The film became the highest-grossing film of 1985, spawning two spin-off films and even a Broadway musical.
