‘Back to the Future’: Melora Hardin Was Fired Thanks to Michael J. Fox for Infuriating Reason
What To Know
- Melora Hardin was fired from Back to the Future after Michael J. Fox replaced Eric Stoltz, as she was considered “too tall” to play Fox’s romantic interest.
- Director Bob Zemeckis decided to recast Hardin based on concerns that audiences wouldn’t accept a taller female lead opposite Fox.
- Michael J. Fox expressed regret over the situation in his memoir, stating he would have defended Hardin if given the chance.
Melora Hardin was fired from Back to the Future after Michael J. Fox replaced Eric Stoltz as the lead, and the reason was pretty infuriating.
In Fox’s new memoir, Future Boy, the actor behind Marty McFly in the iconic film trilogy opened up about how he was the reason Hardin’s role as Jennifer Parker was recast. Hardin, as it turned out, was “too tall” to be Fox’s romantic interest in the 1985 film.
“My goal as a child was self-preservation. Bullies often ridiculed my height, an easy target. I suffered the indignity of short jokes and prejudice against my smallness,” he wrote in the book, per Entertainment Weekly.
Although Fox’s short stature “worked in my favor when I was a teenage actor playing a younger kid,” his height “turned against me as an adult, when I went up for romantic leads opposite taller actresses.”
Unfortunately, when Fox replaced Stoltz after six weeks of filming for Back to the Future, Hardin was booted due to her height. Claudia Wells took over the role of Jennifer.
New World Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
“I regret that this prejudice inadvertently affected another cast member in Back to the Future—Melora Hardin, the talented actress who had played Marty’s girlfriend, Jennifer, opposite the perfectly tall Eric Stoltz,” he wrote. “Melora, several inches taller than me, was replaced in the movie after I took over as Marty.”
He continued, “Initially, Bob Zemeckis thought perhaps the audience could look past our height difference, but when he quickly surveyed the female members of the crew, they assured him that the tall, pretty girl in high school rarely picks the cute, short guy.”
Fox also noted, “No one asked for my opinion, but I would have risen to Melora’s defense.”
He went on to star in two sequels, Back to the Future Part II (1989), and Back to the Future Part III (1990).
Back to the Future, streaming on Philo