Back To The Future is a legendary film for a whole host of reasons, but one standout bit of trivia concerns some notorious behind the scenes drama: while Eric Stoltz was originally hired to play the role of Marty McFly, the character was recast in the midst of production and Michael J. Fox came in to replace him. Over the years, multiple reasons have been given to explain why the production made the move that it did – but in the eyes of co-star Thomas F. Wilson (best known to fans as Biff Tannen), a major contributing factor was Stoltz’s method approach to his performance.
This isn’t certainly isn’t the first time that method acting has raised eyebrows on a production (a recent example being Jared Leto’s behavior on the set of Suicide Squad), but Wilson explained during a recent appearence on the podcast Inside Of You that it created legitimate conflict between him and Stoltz in the making of Back To The Future. Host Michael Rosenbaum specifically asked his guest about his memories of working with the actor prior to him being fired, and while being very polite about it, Wilson explained why they didn’t get along:
We were very young men, you know? And it was a long time ago, and I have utmost respect for Eric as a person and his wonderful career and all of those things. But we were young guys together in a thing, and Eric was doing a very, very method-heavy approach to Marty McFly. So he was treating me very badly, because he wanted to be called Marty by everyone…. by the hairstylists and by the director and by everyone. He was trying to embody Marty.
Looking at the work from Eric Stoltz’s perspective, I suppose one can see a logic in it: he was playing Marty McFly, and he has a rough on-screen relationship with the classic cinematic bully that is Biff Tannen. He apparently felt license to keep that dynamic going even after Robert Zemeckis called “cut” on a scene and the cameras stopped rolling.
That being said, according to Thomas F. Wilson, Eric Stoltz was apparently being “selective” when it came to his commitment and how it impacted his relationships with co-stars. As an example, he pointed to the way that he behaved with Lea Thompson, with whom Stoltz had worked on 1984’s The Wild Life. Wilson continued,
I thought it was odd coming in, because he’d been in a movie with Lea Thompson. He was supposed to be uncomfortable around her, but, to him, she was Lea, and they were all palsy-walsy there, but he’s treating me badly. So I thought it was a selective method back then.
Thompson, of course, plays Lorraine Baines a.k.a. Marty McFly’s mom in Back To The Future, and Marty is consistently weird around her because she very clearly develops a crush on him. But Wilson obviously didn’t see that represented when he saw them hanging out on set.
According to Wilson, looking back on the experience with over 40 years of hindsight, it was about respect: while Eric Stoltz was doing his thing to try and produce his best performance possible, it was an approach that didn’t have a positive impact when it came to collaboration (and that’s a vital thing on movie sets). He concluded,
Back then, I didn’t appreciate that. Because I have an instrument, too. I’m on this stage as well as you are. So we both need what we need to work this scene. I am not your servant in this scene, where I’ll be a particular way to make you comfortable. We’re here together in order to do this, and I’m not asking you to do anything, to call me anything…. I’m asking you to know the words and show up here ready to rock…. There was a lot of drama and angst and a lot of things that I think were not productive as a young man back then that led to his being replaced.
Of course, that was the start of a whole other drama. Production was shut down, and Thomas F. Wilson went from thinking that the whole movie was being canned to thinking that he was the one being fired when he got a call asking him to attend a meeting with Robert Zemeckis. But that turbulence ended with Michael J. Fox replacing Eric Stoltz, and the rest is history.
For what it’s worth, there is still at least one shot in the finished movie that apparently features Eric Stoltz – and if you want to catch it, Back To The Future is now available to stream with an AMC+ subscription.