Michael โคJ. Fox and Eric Stoltz โฃFinallyโข Met,Four โDecades Afterโ Landmark ‘Back to the Future‘ โฃRecasting
Forty years after Michael J. Fox replaced Eric โStoltz as Marty McFly โin the 1985 blockbuster Back to the Future, the two actors have finally connected, โคforging a friendshipโฃ built on โคmutual โคrespect and a shared experience. The recasting, a pivotal moment โin film history, was initially initiated without direct communication between the actors, a situation Fox sought to remedy with a candid outreach.
Fox initially contactedโ Stoltz, writing, “Ifโฃ your โฃanswerโค is โ’piss off and leave meโฃ alone’โฆ That works, โคtoo,” as reported by Entertainment Weekly. Stoltz responded with aโ playful, yet thoughtful reply, beginning with the โฃrequestedโฃ phrase โbeforeโค adding, “Iโข jestโฆ” he โrespectfully declined to participate in Fox’s memoir, but expressed โขopenness โขto a meeting.
The actors’ firstโ encounter provedโข surprisingly easy. “We promptly โฃfell into โขan easy dialog about our careers,families,and yes,our own โtrips โthrough the space-time continuum,” โFox writesโฃ in his new memoir,Future Boy. “[Stoltz entered] with a smile, and we quickly acknowledged that โขneither of us โhad an issueโข with the other. What โtranspired on ‘Back to the Future’ โคhad not made us enemiesโ or fated rivals; โwe were just two dedicated โactors who had poured equal amounts of energy into the same role. The โคrest had nothing to do with us.”
As โขtheir meeting,Fox and Stoltzโฃ have maintained a friendly correspondence,exchanging recommendations for movies,updatesโ on their families,and occasional political commentary. โข”His emails are reliably witty and always fun to read [and] a reminder that some of โthe best parts of our futureโ can come from the past,” Fox added.
The decisionโ toโ replace Stoltz occurred after approximately a monthโ of filming, with director โฃRobert zemeckis and producer steven spielberg finding the earlyโ footage “disappointing.” Though โacknowledging Stoltz’s โคtalent, the creative team โdetermined he wasn’t the right fit for the role. Ironically, Fox was initially unavailable for the part, having โbeen “removed from consideration” โฃby Family Ties creator Gary David โGoldberg.
Back to the future,โ starring Fox, went onโข to gross $381.1 million worldwide in 1985, becoming the year’s highest-grossing film and launching a successful franchise with back to โthe Future Part II (1989) and Back to the Futureโ Part III (1990).
Future Boy,โ Michael J. Fox’s memoir detailing this experience and more, isโข now available for purchase.