Everyone’s favorite Marty McFly could never believe the ridiculous amount of fame he achieved. Michael J Fox was best popular among the ’80s kids who loved him in the Back to the Future series. However, before his career took a turn with the time-traveling film trilogy, he starred in a role that would make him believe in his acting ability.
Fox’s earliest role in a Canadian sitcom was so terrible that he believed himself to be a bad actor. The Teen Wolf actor proved otherwise and starred in several projects before he officially retired in 2020 owing to his Parkinson’s condition.
Michael J Fox Believed His One Role Built His Hollywood Career
At the beginning of his career, Michael J Fox acted in several small productions as a child actor. Fox recalled a particularly poor show, Leo and Me, during an interview with Empire Magazine (via Readly). In the series, he played the orphan Jamie who lived along with his uncle Leo on a yacht. About his role, Fox shared, “I was a terrible actor! I was the worst actor of all time.”
However, the Doc Hollywood actor’s other role turned around the fortune for him. Fox played Alex Keaton in the NBC sitcom, Family Ties. The show ran for seven seasons and Fox was part of all of them, despite gaining his due recognition with Back to the Future. Looking back at his Young Republican role, Fox shared that the chances of him achieving that level of fame were very unlikely. However, he made it possible, thanks to such roles. Fox shared with Empire:
“It was complete improbability – the insanity of this kid from Canada somehow leaving school and… well, you just didn’t do this when I was a kid. It was not an option. Somehow, three or four years later, I was on the path to what was a ridiculous amount of fame.”
However, it was the role of Marty McFly in Robert Zemeckis‘s Back to the Future trilogy that established him as a star in Hollywood. It is interesting to learn that Fox almost never got to play the part, as another actor began filming for the role.
Back To The Future Initially Didn’t Have Michael J Fox
Robert Zemeckis originally wanted Michael J Fox to play the lead in his film, but Family Ties creator Gary David Goldberg was not ready to sacrifice his series lead. Later, Eric Stoltz landed the role of Marty McFly. However, Stoltz’s approach to the role was more serious, making Zemeckis unhappy about his casting. After six weeks of production, Stoltz was let go from the film. Fox was cast into the role, with one of the tightest schedules in Hollywood history.
According to his revelation in his AppleTV+ documentary, Still: A Michael J Fox Movie, he rehearsed for Family Ties from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and then rushed to the Back to the Future set. He would rehearse there and shoot until 2:30 a.m. after which he caught some sleep. Fox explained in the documentary:
“A driver would pick me up at 9:30 am and take me to Paramount where I would spend the day shooting Family Ties. Then at 6 pm another driver would pick me up and shuttle me to whatever far-flung location we were based at this evening [for Back to the Future]. I would work on the film until just before sunrise. At that point, I’d climb into the back of a production van with a pillow and blanket and another driver would take me home again.”
Family Ties is now available for streaming on Paramount+, while the Back to the Future trilogy is now available for streaming on Peacock Premium.
