Well, this is heavy. Michael J. Fox, the actor best known as Marty McFly, almost never donned the denim jacket and orange puffy vest — because of a scheduling conflict.
On stage at the first ever Silicon Valley Comic Con over the weekend, Fox and castmates Christopher Llyod and Lea Thompson reunited for a "Back to the Future" reunion panel more than 30 years after the movie's debut. A fan asked the actors what drew them to their roles.
"I was doing a movie in Pasadena — a werewolf movie," Fox began, which drew laughter from the packed audience. "And I was sucking my lunch through a straw." His costume for "Teen Wolf" included yak hair glued to his face, which made eating soup all the more difficult.
"I heard there were location scouts on the lot, scouting for locations for a Steven Spielberg production, and I heard Crispin Glover was in it. I knew Crispin, so I was pissed about that," Fox teased.
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At the time, Fox starred as the ambitious, conservative son of two former hippies in the CBS sitcom, "Family Ties." He ached for cooler opportunities — preferably ones with less yak hair.
Little did Fox know, the people behind the Spielberg flick already approached "Family Ties" producer, Gary David Goldberg, and asked if Fox was available. Goldberg told them there was no way Fox could juggle the two at the same time and they dropped it.
Another young actor, Eric Stoltz, landed the role instead, but the gig was over in a matter of weeks. Zemeckis and Spielberg weren't thrilled with his performance, so, they convinced the studio head to let them court their first pick yet again.
"All this was happening, and I had no idea," Fox said. "Then around Christmas, Gary called me into his office and gave me an envelope. He said, 'This is a script Bob [Robert] Zemeckis is doing for a movie Steven Spielberg is producing. They want you to read it.'"
Goldberg filled Fox in on his earlier conversations with the movie's creators and told Fox, "Take the script home and read it, and then let me know what you want to do."
"I took the script and I put it on his desk," Fox said, breaking into a smile. "I said, 'This is the best script I've ever read in my life.'"
The rest is history. Less than a month later, Fox found himself in the parking lot of Puente Hills Mall in Los Angeles County "with flames running through his legs," he says.
