‘Family Ties’ Creator Secretly Rejected ‘Back to the Future’ Role on Michael J. Fox’s Behalf
What To Know
- Family Ties creator Gary David Goldberg initially rejected the offer for Michael J. Fox to star in Back to the Future without telling Fox, prioritizing his commitment to the TV show.
- Eric Stoltz was originally cast as Marty McFly, but was later replaced because his portrayal lacked the comedic qualities the filmmakers wanted for the character.
- After Goldberg eventually gave his blessing, Fox worked grueling hours on both projects, and his performance in Back to the Future became iconic, leading to the film’s massive success and sequels.
Most of us know the story of how Eric Stoltz briefly held the role of Marty McFly in Back to the Future before Michael J. Fox took it on — but you probably didn’t know that Stoltz was only cast in the first place because Family Ties creator Gary David Goldberg secretly turned down the role on Fox’s behalf, according to Fox in a new People interview.
In 1984, Fox was experiencing success as the lead of the show Family Ties, playing preppy young Republican Alex P. Keaton. At the time, Fox was happy with his television career and wasn’t seriously thinking about transitioning to film. However, Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis had their eye on Fox to play Marty McFly in their new film Back to the Future.
According to a Television Academy interview with Fox, while Fox was shooting Teen Wolf during a break in shooting Family Ties, the actor heard about the upcoming Back to the Future production and thought, “That would be great. If I could do that, that would be a lot better than being a werewolf.”
But Fox didn’t know at the time that Spielberg and Zemeckis had already approached Goldberg to see if Fox could be their star — and the Family Ties honcho had shot them down. “They wanted to go in October, and he couldn’t let me out,” Fox recalled. “He had said, ‘I can’t let him do it. Please don’t tel Michael — not that I want him to think I did something behind his back, but I really have no other choice.’ And I totally accept that and understand that.”
Back to the Future was already filming with Eric Stoltz but things didn’t quite seem right. “There’s a certain goofiness” to Marty McFly, Fox said, that Stoltz didn’t quite mesh with.
NBC/Everett Collection
Shortly after coming back from Family Ties‘ Christmas break, Fox got called down to Goldberg’s office. Fox was worried he was about to get fired. Instead, Goldberg handed him the script for Back to the Future. “He said, ‘Steven Spielberg is producing this film, Bob Zemeckis is directing it. They want you to do it, so why don’t you take it and read it. And if you want to do it, we’ll figure out how to make it work.”
Fox would work all day on Family Ties and film Back to the Future at night, sometimes clocking 20 hours of work per day. Fox added, “It took me a long time to believe that I pulled it off.” Luckily, it was worth it because Back to the Future became a classic and spawned several sequels.
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