Michael J. Fox reveals in his new memoir, Future Boy, that he wrote to Eric Stoltz to finally meet him, 40 years after Fox replaced Stoltz as Marty McFly in the blockbuster movie Back to the Future. As the story goes, Stoltz was six weeks into production on director Robert Zemeckis’ blockbuster, and the decision was made to drop him and recast the lead role with Fox, who had been the director’s first choice due to his role in the NBC sitcom Family Ties.
“Eric has been quiet about this for 40 years, so I was prepared for the possibility that he would want to do it,” Fox said in his memoir (via Entertainment Weekly), noting that the two never met face-to-face to discuss the casting exchange. Mr. Fox wrote to him: “If your answer is, ‘Just piss off and leave me alone,’ then that’s fine too.”
In a “beautifully written reply,” Stoltz responded, “I started saying, ‘Get angry and leave me alone!'” Thankfully, this was followed by, “Just kidding…” Eric was thoughtful about my activities, and although he politely declined to participate in the book, he seemed open to the idea of getting together. ”
When Fox and Stoltz finally found themselves in the same room, the actors “immediately struck up a quick conversation about our careers, our families, and, yes, our own journeys through the space-time continuum,” Fox writes. “[Stortz]came in with a smile on his face and we quickly acknowledged that we were fine with each other. Nothing that happened on Back to the Future made us enemies or archrivals. We were just two dedicated actors who put the same amount of energy into the same role. The rest had nothing to do with us. As it turned out, we had a lot more in common than our spins as Marty.”
“Eric and I have maintained a friendly correspondence in the months since we met, exchanging like-minded actors and fathers, talking about our favorite movies and recent adventures with our kids, and occasionally dipping into politics,” Fox added. “His emails are certainly witty and always fun to read (and) remind us that some of the best parts of our future can come from our past.”
Replacing Stoltz as Marty McFly in Back to the Future changed the course of Foxx’s career, catapulting him from sitcom star to blockbuster actor. The film grossed $381.1 million worldwide in 1985, making it the highest-grossing film of the year, and spawned a series that led to 1989’s Back to the Future Part II and 1990’s Back to the Future Part III, both of which were headlined by FOX.
In his memoir, Fox wrote that when director Zemeckis and producer Steven Spielberg originally wanted to cast Marty McFly, Family Ties creator Gary David Goldberg “cut him out of consideration” for the role. The film had “already been in the works for over a month,” but the Stolz-centered daily was “unfortunate” for the creative team.
“Eric was a very talented actor, but the creative team didn’t feel he was the right fit for Marty McFly,” Fox notes.
Fox’s memoir “Future Boy” is available for purchase now.
