by Michael J. Fox and Nelle Fortenberry
This slim (150 pages) volume is a brief but exciting memoir of how Michael J. Fox famously juggled two full-time acting jobs and ended up as the star of one of the most beloved films of all time. By day he portrayed Alex P. Keaton on the hit TV show Family Ties, while by night he was Marty McFly, the time-traveling teen of Back to the Future.
Fox goes briefly into how his early Canadian acting success led him to Los Angeles at the age of eighteen and how a few years later, when he was on the verge of having to give up on Hollywood and return to Canada, he scored the role that made him famous. Family Ties was filming its third season when his boss, the show's creator, Gary David Goldberg, refused to make him available for BTTF because Fox couldn't be spared...without informing Fox of the offer. Some months later the film's producers tried again when Eric Stoltz as Marty wasn't working out. This time Goldberg was ready to work with them and a crazy plan to replace Stoltz and reshoot the film with Fox while he continued his work on Family Ties was hatched.
Fox was twenty-three at the time, so a lot of what got him through the punishing schedule was both youthful energy and an intense dedication to both projects. A driver would pick him up in the morning and deliver him to Paramount for Family Ties. Once he was done for the day, another driver would pick him up at Paramount and deliver him to Universal Studios (or filming locations, including the Puente Hills Mall) where he would work through most of the night. His driver would then drop him off at home for a few hours sleep, then it was rinse and repeat.
Some interesting points:
- Per Lea Thompson, Stoltz viewed Marty's return to 1985 as having a tragic quality - although things had turned out so much better for his family, there was now an entire, revised family history that Marty had no memory of. Interesting take, but the Bobs (writer Bob Gale and writer/director Bob Zemeckis) wanted a comedy, not a tragedy. Fox had high praise for Thompson in their first scene together, the one where Marty wakes up in 1955 and meets his mother as a teenager, especially because of how well she adjusted to the difference between how he played the role compared to Stoltz.
- Crispin Glover had made a guest appearance in an earlier episode of Family Ties. He played one of two friends who take Alex out to celebrate his eighteenth birthday. Fox has high praise for Glover's comedic ability.
- Because of how he was thrown into production without any rehearsal time with his castmates, Fox says he didn't really get to know Christopher Lloyd until the sequel, making the onscreen bond between Marty and Doc Brown all the more impressive.
- The story of how Fox's stunt double got his job on the film is insane. It sounds like something out of a movie. Just read the book.
- The guitar Fox played in the "Johnny B. Good" performance at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance went missing and hasn't been seen since. Fox estimates that if it were to resurface, it "...could easily fetch in excess of seven figures."
- In preparation for the book Fox contacted Eric Stoltz, who has always maintained complete silence on the subject of his tenure as Marty McFly. The two got together and seem to have bonded, although at Stoltz's request whatever was discussed about the film stays private. I would love for Stoltz to someday write a book about his BTTF experience - I don't know if it's a sore spot he won't revisit, but if he did I would buy that book.
This was a quick, energetic read but if you want an extremely comprehensive look at the making of BTTF, I highly recommend We Don't Need Roads: The Making of the Back to the Future Trilogy by Caseen Gaines.
From the book:
Any awkwardness in this meeting was immediately dispelled by Eric's grace. He entered with a smile, and 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.
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