Back to the Future is one of the most iconic movies of its time, influencing the science fiction genre for many years to come. The movie franchise has shaped the childhood of many and has gone down in history as one of the most memorable movies.
Michael J. Fox was the actor who played the iconic protagonist, Marty McFly, a seventeen-year-old high school student whose life was turned upside down when he was thrown into the past. Marty goes through many trials and tribulations to get back to his future. This is one of Fox’s most well-known roles, so it is quite interesting to know that the actor wasn’t even supposed to play this character originally.
Back to the Future Was Supposed To Be Lead By A Different Actor Other Than Michael J. Fox
The producer and writer of the first Back to the Future, Bob Gale revealed during an interview that the iconic character of Marty McFly, who was played by none other than Michael J. Fox was originally supposed to be played by a different actor. It would seem that production and a total of six weeks of filming took place before Fox was cast as another actor was cast in it instead, Eric Stoltz, known for his work in the 1985 movie, Mask as well as Pulp Fiction.
“We kept making excuses,” said Gale, “Maybe the movie will be OK if we use that take of Eric, and that take of Eric, and cut it altogether. … It wasn’t working.”
It would seem that Stoltz was unable to truly embody the character of Marty according the to directors and producers. They were having to leave a lot of the shots and character development in the hands of the editing room, which was not working for them. They also added that Stoltz was making Marty much more serious than they wished him to be, so the production eventually parted ways with the actor and go with their first choice, Michael J. Fox.
Michael J. Fox Was Having Trouble Balancing Back to the Future Alongside 80’s Sitcom
Michael J. Fox, when cast for the character of Marty in Back to the Future, was already working on the sitcom, Family Ties. This meant the that actor would have to work simultaneously on both projects. This proved to be quite a difficult schedule for him as he would have to work on the sitcom during the day and work on the science-fiction movie at night, into early morning and hardly get any sleep.
“You could tell he was exhausted, we felt really bad for him,” Thompson adds. “But he was a trouper, and he was young. Michael at that point was in such great comedy shape. He was just so tuned up that he could actually pull this off getting zero sleep. They had some kind of station wagon, they’d throw him in the back with blankets. It was so sad, poor guy.”
Fox’s co-star in the movie, Lea Thompson, revealed that the actor was extremely exhausted at all times. She mentioned that everyone on the crew felt quite bad for him but was quite impressed that this exhaustion did not hinder his performance.
Source: Yahoo! Entertainment
