Back To The Future: The Secret Recasting Of Marty McFly

While the Marty McFly recasting is now a well-known fact, Back to the Future originally tried to keep it a secret. Back to the Future recast Marty McFly after the role was originally played by Eric Stoltz. He even filmed for weeks before he was fired and replaced with Fox, who was more in line with what director and co-writer Robert Zemeckis envisioned for the character.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 1985 movie, Fox wrote the book Future Boy: Back to the Future and My Journey Through the Space-Time Continuum. While speaking with Entertainment Weekly about the book, he explains how he was rushed into playing Marty, with the public initially unaware of the recast. This happened as he was also shooting season 3 of the sitcom Family Ties. Check out his comments below:

I didn’t have time to think about it. I don’t think the public were aware of it until we were doing it. I was rushed on it, six weeks in, and I had no kind of time to talk about it.

Nelle Fortenberry, who co-wrote Future Boy alongside Fox, shares that while talking with Zemeckis and co-writer/producer Bob Gale and other creatives who worked on the movie, more was revealed about how the shift from Stoltz to Fox was kept a secret for as long as possible.

They managed to keep the fact that Eric had left the movie and Michael was coming on the movie a secret until Michael started.

However, a headline from a prominent newspaper revealed the recasting, “announcing that it had taken place, and it called the movie ‘troubled.’ ‘The troubled production of Back to the Future.'”

So I think a lot of people in the business thought, “Oh, this must be a mess. This is just a hot mess, this movie.”

The experience was a whirlwind for Fox, who laughs when reflecting on how he did not meet co-star Christopher Lloyd until the actor “jumped out of the van.”

The first time I saw [Christopher Lloyd] was when he jumped out the van. I hadn’t talked to him, had never spoken to him about my character. Luckily, he jumped out and did this thing. I thought, “Holy s***, it’s going to be great. He’s crazy.”

As for why Stoltz remained in the role for weeks, even after the project’s creative team knew they wanted to move in a different direction, Fox explains that it was about ensuring the movie’s survival.

Until my deal was locked in, Bob Zemeckis and his co-writer and producer, Bob Gale, continued filming with Eric Stoltz, who was unaware of the impending change. [Producer Steven Spielberg] was afraid that if they let him go prematurely and production shut down, the whole film could implode. Universal needed assurance that a plan was in place for a seamless transition to a new lead actor.

All three Back to the Future movies now have a beloved legacy, but the first one struggled with the perception of being a “troubled production” before it was even released, and there were even concerns that it wouldn’t get made if the transition from Stoltz to Fox wasn’t handled correctly.

Keeping the recasting a secret as long as possible was an attempt to delay the inevitably bad PR that would ensue once the change became public knowledge. Regardless of the public perception, though, Fox took the challenge head-on, jumping into a production that had already been filming for weeks, and still managing to make the role of Marty his own.

Back to the Future‘s positive reviews and Fox’s iconic portrayal of Marty ultimately proved that the right decision had been made. Trying to hide the recasting may feel unnecessary in retrospect, but it made sense at the time as what needed to happen in order to ensure that Back to the Future could become a successful film.