Back to the Future was such a cultural phenomenon — but interestingly enough, there’s still mystery surrounding the production. Michael J. Fox, who played Marty McFly, recently published his memoir Future Boy: Back to the Future and My Journey Through the Space-Time Continuum, and in it he detailed something of an on-set feud with Crispin Glover, who played McFly’s father George.
As reported by ScreenRant, Fox claimed that that Glover “created friction” with his acting style on set. “Nobody puts Crispin in a box,” he explained. “But that didn’t prevent the camera crew from literally building a box around him.”
The actor had “his own ideas as to how and where” his character should move, which created some tensions with the crew.
“As Crispin approached the camera, he was meant to stay in a lane between the clothesline and me. But Crispin had a different plan,” Fox wrote. “My guess is that he saw George as a wanderer, a free spirit who traveled in random patterns — in this case, perpendicular to the camera.”
That said, Glover’s mini-feud with the crew didn’t change Fox’s outlook on his on-screen dad. “His talent was unquestionable, although his methods sometimes created friction. Still, I respected how he remained true to George (as he understood and embodied him),” he said, before noting: “I knew Crispin Glover prior to Back to the Future. I wouldn’t, however, say I was prepared to act with him — there’s no way to prepare for Crispin.”
Believe it or not, this isn’t the only major tidbit about the production of the classic film that Fox has divulged in his new memoir. He also opened up about reaching out to Eric Stoltz — who was originally cast as Marty and worked on the film for six weeks before being replaced by Fox — 40 years after the film was shot.
“Eric has maintained his silence on the subject for 40 years, so I was prepared for the likelihood that he’d prefer to keep it that way,” Fox wrote, noting that the pair had never met to discuss the change in casting. In a letter Fox wrote to the Pulp Fiction star in an attempt to meet face to face, he included: “If your answer is ‘piss off and leave me alone’… That works, too.”
However, Fox was sent a “beautifully written reply” that “began, ‘Piss off and leave me alone!’ Thankfully, this was followed by ‘I jest…’ Eric was thoughtful about my outreach, and although he respectfully declined to participate in the book, he seemed open to the idea of getting together.”
When the pair finally did meet, they expressed that they each had no ill will toward one another and “immediately fell into an easy dialogue about our careers, families, and yes, our own trips through the space-time continuum.”
Fox wrote that Stoltz came into his home “with a smile.” He added: “We quickly acknowledged that neither of us had an issue with the other. What transpired on Back to the Future had not made us enemies or fated rivals; we were just two dedicated actors who had poured equal amounts of energy into the same role. The rest had nothing to do with us. As it turned out, we had much more in common than our spin as Marty.”
Meanwhile, Fox has addressed the “temporal inconsistency” in Back to the Future’s iconic guitar scene, which is well worth a read if you’re interested in timetravel shenanigans. Fox’s memoir, Future Boy, is now available wherever books are sold.
Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.