Lea Thompson versus Michael J. Fox
That’s why there was a stink on the “Back to the Future” set
Michael J. Fox didn’t have an easy time with film mother Lea Thompson at the beginning of “Back to the Future”.
© imago/Avalon.red / Will T Wade Jr., PacificCoastNe / Avalon
Lea Thompson didn’t warm up to Michael J. Fox when filming “Back to the Future” began. She had two reasons for this.
The “Back to the Future” trilogy is considered one of the best sci-fi comedies in film history. Marty McFly’s time travel almost looked completely different, because instead of Michael J. Fox (63), actor Eric Stoltz (63) was actually intended for the main role. In fact, he had already been shooting the film for five weeks before it was retroactively replaced. This caused great displeasure not only for Stoltz, but also for actress Lea Thompson (63), like the actress who played Marty McFly’s mother has now revealed on the “Still Here Hollywood” podcast.
Thompson and Stoltz had met a short time before while filming together and got along well: “I did a film called ‘The Wildlife’ with him and became friends with him,” said the actress. The fact that her friend was quickly replaced with Michael J. Fox upset her out of collegiality. Although Fox obviously had nothing to do with the decision, she made her displeasure clear to him, Thompson continued. She recalled in the podcast that she was “really rude” to her new co-star.
Another reason caused tension
Self-critically, Thompson cited a second reason why Michael J. Fox initially had a difficult time with her. He had already appeared in a few films before the start of the “Back to the Future” series. At this time, however, he was primarily known for the sitcom “Family Ties”. Because, according to her, a career on TV was much less prestigious back then than it is today, she thought snobbishly: “He’s just a TV star and I’m a movie star. I was in ‘Jaws 3D’!”
But it didn’t take long for Fox to win her over with his engaging manner. She also increasingly understood why her friend Eric Stoltz was subsequently viewed as the wrong choice: Michael J. Fox “was so funny and it was great fun to shoot with him. I had already filmed a few scenes with Eric and then repeated them with Michael. That’s when I noticed how they turned into completely different scenes.”