Can you picture “Back to the Future” without Michael J. Fox? We couldn’t either until we saw this clip. Apparently, Eric Stoltz, the original actor cast in the role, played McFly for five weeks of shooting before director Robert Zemeckis decided he just wasn’t clicking with the role.Zemeckis describes the casting change as, “this horrific decision; it was heartbreaking for everybody.”
When he began to realize his lead actor was a problem, he went to producer Steven Spielberg with the footage.
“(Zemeckis) showed me the first five weeks of shooting that he had put together,” Spielberg said. ” And he said, ‘I just don’t think we’re getting the laughs I was hoping we would get.’ “
Spielberg said he realized his director “was absolutely correct.”
Thankfully Zemeckis and Spielberg were able to convince the studio to let them re-shoot with a new actor. Michael J. Fox joined the cast and an icon was born.
The clip is part of the extra’s package for the new BluRay edition of the classic trilogy.
