When it comes to sci-fi movies, the first thing that comes to mind is Back to the Future. It is a legendary trilogy which is still as popular and as loved as it was over 30 years ago when the third and final part aired.
Of course, the movie wouldn’t be what it is hadn’t been for Michael J. Fox who played the role of Marty and Christopher Lloyd in the role of Doc Brown.
But did you know that when he was first handed the script, Lloyd threw it in the garbage? Luckily, a friend of his made him reconsider his decision and give it a go, and well, the rest is history.
Back in October 2022, the cast gathered together at the New York Comic-Con. Among the rest, they shared with the viewers interesting information that have never been revealed before. Michael J. Fox replaced Eric Stotz in the role of Marty McFly, the producers said, although shooting had already begun at that point. Apparently, Lloyd wasn’t happy with the changes because it meant he needed to shoot the same scenes again.
“The news at one o’clock in the morning was that the actor portraying Marty would no longer be playing Marty and that tomorrow, we would start filming with Michael,” Lloyd revealed. “I felt that I barely got it through the [first] six weeks and now I was going to have to do it again… As the cliche goes, ‘there was chemistry instantly.’”
Fox, on the other hand, had a fantastic time right from the start. “Just take everything in and let it wash over me,” the actor said. “To me, he was a genius.” The 61-year-old actor added: “That’s it. Enjoy being with Chris and letting him be Chris. This was a thrilling experience. It was always a pleasure to spend the day at the office with him.”
Further, Fox said of his co-star, “Chris is a fantastic human being. He’s really mysterious. I had to see a couple movies with him before I could say I knew him. At the end of Back to the Future Part III, we felt a deeper bond than in the previous films. I wanted to see firsthand his deep-seated passion for performing. To be honest, I had no idea. For a friendly chat about acting, Shakespeare, and King Lear… A convincing King Lear, I tell you! Few anticipate such a move from him. His character is full of unexpected twists and turns.”
Fox often speaks of his health condition. He disclosed his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis some 30 years ago, when he was just 29. It took young Fox a lot of time to accept the reality, but he finally decided to make the best out of his life despite the struggles the disease forced him to face.
At the New York Comic-Con Fox said he “struggles” with the pain from his broken bones.
He also said how he used to have a “real proficiency for lines and memorization,” but how “the last couple of years have been trickier than most.” Michael added, “And I had some extreme situations where the last couple of jobs I did were actually really word-heavy parts. I struggled during both of them.”
Recently, in an interview with comedian Mike Birbiglia, Fox opened up about never-before-shared aspects of his condition and explained that he had lost his sense of smell. Although this saddened him a great deal, he said he still remembers most of the smells, including that of pine, just before Christmas.
A few years ago, he experienced yet another health scare when he started falling down for no reason and it appeared he had a problem with his spinal cord and he needed to do something about it.
“I was told it was benign but if it stayed static I would have diminished feeling in my legs and difficulty moving. Then all of a sudden I started falling – a lot. It was getting ridiculous. I was trying to parse what was Parkinson’s and what was the spinal thing. But it came to the point where it was probably necessary to have surgery,” he said as per The New York Times.
Along with his wife, Michael established the Michael J. Fox Foundation whose goal is finding cure for Parkinson’s disease through funded research. The organization is currently the largest non-profit founder of Parkinson’s disease research in the world. His dedication to helping patients with the disease he suffers from himself placed him on the 2007 Time Magazine‘s list of 100 people “whose power, talent or moral example is transforming the world.”
Michael J. Fox is an incredibly talent actor and an extraordinary man. We only wish him the best in the years to come. We hope he stays as optimistic as he has throughout all his life.
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