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Anyway… Casting! The list of the comedic cast of the Back to the Future trilogy would be never ending! So this blog is going to just simply look at the first movie, and the first movie only. This blog will also be split into 2 parts. Part 1 being the main 6 characters (Marty McFly, Doc Brown, Lorraine Baines McFly, George McFly, Biff Tannen & Jennifer Parker). Part 2 will cover other notable characters, where without their existence, the trilogy would cease to exist. So come along for the ride as we discuss the casting process for the main 6 faces of Back to the Future. We’re going to start with the guy who whipped himself back to 1955, who is also the guy who was the hardest to cast: Marty McFly.
Both Bob Zemeckis and Bob Gale new right from day one, who they wanted to play Marty McFly. That man was Michael J. Fox, who at this point in time was one of America’s biggest television stars, portraying Alex P. Keaton on the NBC sitcom Family Ties. Zemeckis and Gale liked Fox’s comedic timing and portrayal of Alex, on Family Ties, leading them to think he would be perfect for the part. So, they held a private meeting with Gary David Goldberg (producer of the show), to discuss the possibility of having Michael as they’re leading actor in their new film. Unfortunately, Fox was currently in his 3rd season of the show (with growing responsibilities) and the shows “work-like” hours, 5 days a week schedule, made it almost impossible for Fox to be a part of Back to the Future. With that in mind, Goldberg rejected the offer, and for months Fox was unaware this conversation ever happened. At this point Zemeckis, Gale & Spielberg had no other choice, but to choose a new leading actor.
And so the search for a perfect Marty McFly began…
One young talented actor who was approached with the role but wasn’t available, was Matthew Broderick (who was best known for WarGames at this point). Had Matthew Broderick accepted the role, we likely would have gotten a very different Back to the Future than we know. Despite having to reject the role, Broderick still went on to have a successful film and TV career, starting as the title character in the hit Ferris Bueller’s Day Off a year later.
As the search for Marty continued many other well known young actors were considered, among these were Johnny Depp, John Cusack & Charlie Sheen. High schools across many American states we’re all scouted at the time, in the hope a new, fresh talent would be born. With the release date already having been pushed back twice, the crew knew they would have to make a decision soon. It was actually Hollywood studio head, Sid Sheinberg who thought young actor of a soon to be released Universal production should be the star. That young actor was Eric Stoltz.
With Eric now on board, Back to the Future filing could now commence, which it did on the 26th November 1984. The cast and crew thought their biggest problems were over, but they were far from wrong.
Stoltz was a talented actor, but took a Methodist approach to the role. It has been reported that Stoltz saw Marty in a much darker when, and executed these views when he played him, rather than the comedic side Zemeckis, Gale and Spielberg had hoped for. Stoltz Methodist acting didn’t just cause problems with the portrayal of Marty, but also with other cast members. An example of this was Stoltz approach to punishing the character of Biff, played by Thomas F. Wilson. Stoltz left Wilson with severe pain and bruising, despite Wilson asking Stoltz to relax and soften the punch, assuring him he could still act just as believable. Another Methodist approach Stoltz took was the unusual request of being called and referred to as “Marty” by all cast and crew (except one whom he had a friendship with before hand).
Despite the small hiccups, Stoltz caused with the cast, Zemeckis and Gale’s concern was that they weren’t getting the laughs and jokes they hoped for when re-watching the footage. Despite them hoping that with the rest of the cast giving off the comedic vibe they wanted, Eric’s comedic absence would be ok. They soon realised this was not the case. The movie had a dark hole in the middle of it, something was missing. It reportedly felt to the crew that Eric was “in a whole different movie” altogether. Zemeckis acknowledged the only way out of this tricky situation, was to replace Eric Stoltz. Again Zemeckis and Gale knew who they wanted, Michael J. Fox. The 2 retuned alongside Neil Canton to see Gary David Goldberg a 2nd time. This time however Goldberg presented a solution that could work for both of them. A plan that meant Fox spent predominantly the day time shooting Family Ties and the night hours and Saturday on the set of Back to the Future. Friday’s would prove extra tricky to work around as that was the day Family Ties shot in front of a live studio audience. Still the Back to the Future team agreed to this solution and awaited a response from Michael, who was later given the script and agreed to the brutal schedule. The change was going to cost around $4 million for Universal but the crew and team felt it was the only was to save the film. Meanwhile, the crew continued to shoot with Eric Stoltz, despite their plans of firing him. In January 1985, Stoltz was called into Zemeckis trailer where in short terms he was fired. Both left on good terms with no sour feelings. Eric Stoltz went on to have a successful film career. The news was gradually broken that day and the days that followed to the rest of the crew. One amusing notation that I’ll never forget features Christopher Lloyd (Doc Brown) being informed that Eric Stoltz had been fired. Lloyd’s response was “Who’s Eric?” Stoltz request of being referred to as Marty left Lloyd believing his name really was Marty! Filming started with Michael J. Fox in January 1985, who successfully juggled both film and television responsibilities at the same time, admitting that this meant he had very little time for “luxuries such as sleep”. The crew now had their perfect Marty McFly.
For the next 3 casting stories (notably shorter and less complicated) we go back in time, to likely mid 1984.
Doc Brown, a crucial character with in the movie series. A leading role and without him Marty would never have got back to 1985. Realistically, without Doc, Marty never would have gone anywhere, they’d be no time machine, and it would be a pretty short movie. That aside the casting process of Christopher Lloyd for Doc Brown is also a interesting and surprising one.
Unlike the character of Marty, there was no immediate candidate for the role of Doc who immediately came to mind. So a memo in August of 1984 was put together with a list of suggestible actors for the role, who were all later called in for meetings. Among this names included: Jeff Goldblum (runner up to Lloyd), John Lithgow & Ron Silver.
Producer Neil Canton, was the man to originally make the soon to be heroic suggestion of Christopher Lloyd. Both Zemeckis and Gale really warmed to the idea of Chris Lloyd playing Doc Brown, so they brought him in for a meeting. Prior to the meeting, Lloyd was shooting a film in Mexico and was anything but enthusiastic about the idea of what at that time was a small film, Back to the Future. Around the same time, Lloyd also received an offer to act in a play, that he really liked the sound off. The actor at the time was considering leaving his film & TV career behind to become a theatre star. Lloyd became almost certain he wanted to take the play offer, over the offer of Back to the Future. He reportedly believed that’s where he best belonged. He found the script to be crazy and hard to follow, with his mind made up. Lloyd rang his agent, told them the news, and threw the Back to the Future script in the bin, with no plans to re visit the idea.
However Lloyd’s wife saved the day. She took the script out the bin and begged him to read it, and give it a go. Lloyd remembered his motto regarding his acting career “never leave any stone unturned” (good quote actually). With Lloyd’s wife at that time feeling he was making a bad decision (which he was!), Lloyd agreed to meet with Zemeckis, realising someone saw something in him that meant he was right for the part. The meeting between Lloyd and Zemeckis commenced, and I guess the rest is history. Christopher Lloyd was now Doctor Emmet L. Brown.
In short Christopher Lloyd’s wife at the time, Kay Tornborg not only saved the day by pulling that script out of the bin. But she also saved Lloyd’s film career and saved Back to the Future.
Some of the following casting decisions following this came relatively easy. Jennifer Jason Leigh was considered for the role of Lorraine Baines McFly. Ultimately Lea Thompson was the actress who won over the crew, and had the opportunity to play Lorraine Baines McFly.
With Lea, the crew didn’t just focus on young Lorraine of 1955 (where most of the movie would be set), they also placed emphasis on making up Thompson (who was only in her early 20’s). Thompson recalls having screen tests at Amblin where she was made to where wigs to portray the middle aged Lorraine (an unhappy alcoholic). The crew felt Lea captured this part of Lorraine perfectly.
George McFly over the years has proved to be a extremely unique movie character. One of, if not the most memorable acting performance in Back to the Future. This is down to Crispin Glover, who despite the complexity of his character, found himself to be one of the first hired actors for Back to the Future.
Crispin is as hugely talented actor, who since Back to the Future has had a successful film career. It was the actors, unusual approach to George, including his voice and body language that meant he was given the part. Glover then created the memorability of George McFly.
Unfortunately on occasion, Glover proved to be a difficult actor to work with. Bad punctuality and disobedience on Glover’s part proved to cause rifts for the crew. It was this, alongside economic disagreements and legal issues that led to a sour feeling for a number of years between Glover and the crew of Back to the Future. This also lead to him being replaced by Jeffrey Weissman in parts 2 and 3.
scene of the movie.
Beside the role of Marty, the next trickiest role to fill, and the one that took the longest, was that off Biff Tannen, a crucial role in the films plot. And in my opinion the most underrated and possibly the best acting performance from across the trilogy came from Thomas F. Wilson. Did you know that Tom Wilson played 7 different characters (including characters of alternate years) across the whole trilogy? That fact alone I think makes Wilson a stand out for the best acting performance in the movie, and unfortunately not being a “leading” character as such means in my opinion Wilson doesn’t receive enough credit for this. So credit where credit is due, well done Tom!
The difficulty of finding a perfect Biff came from Zemeckis specific image of Biff in his head. Though Biff had to be a bad guy, he also had to have the comedic qualities necessary for this movie. At the end of the day, Biff needed to be both unlikable and likeable, both at the same time. As well as this, the crew had an outlined physical appearance that they ideally desired for Biff.
Before Tom Wilson was even considered for the role, many other young actors at the time were considered. Among these was Jeffrey Cohen (who would still go on to star in the trilogy) and Tim Robbins. However casting director Judy Taylor discovered the perfect Biff candidate completely by accident. Wilson was actually around the area auditioning for a separate project, when he was approached by Taylor, who reportedly called his agent on the spot. Gale, Zemeckis and Canton were over the moon at this point to find and actor who fitted there wanted physique, as well as one who was funny and a genuinely nice guy. Tom Wilson nailed his job as Biff (and other characters across the trilogy) proving to be unlikable as well as buckets of fun.
The only other character who’s casting story is left to consider has a noticeable smaller role than the preceding actors. But still a pivotal character. Jennifer Parker.
The actress who originally impressed the crew and was hired as Jennifer Parker was Claudia Wells. However, Wells had recently filmed a pilot for an ABC sitcom, that was picked up. This meant Wells had to leave behind the role of Jennifer, as she had already committed to the sitcom, prior to discussions with Back to the Future.
Melora Hardin, a 17 year old actress, was hired to play Jennifer Parker instead. As she was the runner up to Wells. However this was alongside Eric Stoltz. There was a considerable height difference between the 2 actors who played Marty. Meaning when Michale J. Fox arrived on the set, Hardin was slightly to tall for him. The crew, especially female members, felt this was wrong. With that in mind, the crew made the decision to also let Hardin go, along with the departure of Stoltz. The crew felt guilty other this decision as there was no floors in Hardin’s performance. Hardin behaved maturely and understand the reasons behind her departure. Despite her dismissal, she still went on to have a successful acting career.
The loss of Hardin meant a new Jennifer now needed to be found (again). Thankfully (for the crew of Back to the Future), Claudia Wells TV show hadn’t picked up and she ended up returning to the set of Back to the Future to reprise her role as Jennifer Parker, Marty’s girlfriend.
Unfortunately, between part 1 and part 2. Wells’ mother became ill, meaning Wells made the decision to not return as Jennifer for part 2 and 3. Instead she chose to care for her ill mother. Wells was replaced by actress Elisabeth Shue for the 2 sequels. Despite this, Claudia Wells provided a memorable performance as Jennifer Parker, and is still talked about years down the line.
And so that’s a wrap on the part 1 of the casting of Back to the Future. Hope you all enjoyed and maybe even learnt something knew. Again like the previous blog, some information was taken from the writings of Michael Klastorin in Back to the Future: the Ultimate Visual History. Part 2 is definitely something to look forward to, as that is when the casting, roles and importance of other notable characters will be discussed. These Characters include the likes of:
- Mr Strickland
- Dave McFly
- Linda McFly
- Mayor Goldie Wilson
- Marvin Berry
- Clock Tower Lady
- Huey Lewis
- 3-D
- Match
- Skinhead
- Einstein/ Copernicus
I hope everyone of you can join us for that discussion too.
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