There's nothing that time can't fix. Forty years after the first Back to the FutureMichael J. Fox finally met the man he replaced on short notice, Eric Stoltz, on set. Two Marty McFlys were able to bury the hatchet.
In November 1984, after six weeks of filming with Stoltz in the title role of Marty McFly, director Robert Zemeckis thought something was wrong with the actor and his overdramatic nature.
After discussions with the film's producers and Universal Pictures, he convinced them to return to their original choice: Michael J. Fox. Already started the series Family tiesFox had to juggle two shoots simultaneously, day and night.
We know the rest. Franchise Back to the Future achieved worldwide success with three feature films, and Foxx's career exploded. Eric Stoltz, for his part, would have a worthy career, but less glorious than that of his successor.
“Fuck you”
For 40 years Stolz did not want to talk about his adventures Back to the Future and Fox believed that the actor was still angry with him. But while I was writing my book Future Boy: Back to the Future and My Journey through the Space-Time ContinuumFox decided to write a letter to his “enemy” to find out if he wanted to participate in the project.
“I wrote to him that if he had said, ‘Fuck off and leave me alone,’ I would have understood,” Michael J. Fox says in his book.
Cover of Michael J. Fox's Future Boy.
Photo courtesy
Eric Stoltz sent Fox a “nicely worded” response that began with, “Fuck off and leave me alone!” Fortunately, he continued: “Just kidding…”
“Eric was receptive to my approach, and although he politely declined to participate in the book, he seemed open to the idea of us meeting,” Fox writes.
No hostility
According to Fox, when the two actors finally met, they immediately started talking about their careers and families. “[Stoltz est entré] with a smile and we quickly realized that neither of us had a problem with each other. What happened on Back to the Future did not make us enemies or rivals designed to oppose each other; we were just two dedicated actors putting the same energy into the same role. The rest had nothing to do with us. Ultimately, we had a lot more in common than when we were Marty.”
Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future.
Photo courtesy
“Eric and I have maintained friendly correspondence since we met, exchanges between actors and dads who share the same values, sending each other the latest movies we loved, the latest adventures we had with our kids, and the occasional few asides on politics,” Fox adds. Her emails are always witty and fun to read, and they remind me that some of the most wonderful parts of our future may come from the past.”
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