More than forty years after the release of Back to the Future, Michael J. Fox and Eric Stoltz have met for the first time since the early days of the film’s production. The meeting, which took place recently in New York City, was a significant moment considering the history behind Fox replacing Stoltz as Marty McFly during the shoot. This reunion marks an important step toward closure and friendship between the two actors.
How the Switch Happened During Filming
Eric Stoltz was originally hired to star as Marty McFly, but after a few weeks into filming, director Robert Zemeckis and the production team decided Stoltz’s style did not match the film’s lighter tone. This led to Stoltz being replaced by Michael J. Fox, who was also balancing his commitments with the TV show Family Ties. Though the casting change was a major production story, Stoltz had largely avoided discussing his experience until now.
Rekindling a Connection Through a Memoir Project
Michael J. Fox revealed that their recent meeting happened while he was working on his memoir Future Boy, which chronicles the intense period when both Back to the Future and Family Ties were filming simultaneously. Fox had invited Stoltz to contribute to the memoir, but Stoltz declined. Nevertheless, Fox shared that Stoltz agreed to meet him in person, leading to a genuine and straightforward conversation between the two.
“When I set out to write Future Boy, we talked to everyone — Robert Zemeckis, Lea Thompson, Justine Bateman — but Eric was one of the few who declined to participate,”
Fox said.
“It was great. It was a great conversation. It was just two guys talking, which is what I thought it would be,”
he recalled about their meeting at his New York City office.
Addressing Rumors and Misconceptions
Fox also addressed the various myths and rumors that have circulated about Stoltz’s replacement, emphasizing that the situation was neither a betrayal nor a scheme.
“There’s all this mythology built up about this thing that happened. Was it backstabbing? Was there people conniving and being evil? No, it just was the thing that happened,”
Fox explained.
“We had different experiences with the same situation and you absorb it and you move on.”
Shared Early Audition Memories and Newfound Friendship
Though their meeting primarily focused on their shared past, Fox revealed a previously unknown tidbit: the two actors had met before Back to the Future auditions during an earlier casting call for The Lords of Discipline, a military academy drama directed by Franc Roddam. The audition was intense, with Stoltz literally grabbing Fox’s shirt during a scene read.
“During our early struggles to find a foothold in the movie business, we had both auditioned for Franc Roddam’s intensely dramatic, intensely dark, intensely intense movie The Lords of Discipline, about a military academy in the South,”
Fox writes in his memoir Future Boy.
“The casting director asked us to read a scene together, and Eric took the ‘intense’ note to heart, forcefully grabbing my shirt and nearly tearing it in half. Neither of us got the part.”
The film, featuring David Keith, Michael Biehn, and Bill Paxton, was released in 1983. Since their reunion, Fox has spoken warmly of Stoltz, noting how the two have become good friends.
“A wonderful actor… who since has become a friend of mine and someone I’ve had a good time with, talking about this turn in our lives and how we both ended up in different places,”
Fox said at a Back to the Future panel at Calgary Expo.
“I’ve learned a lot about acceptance and perseverance from him. He’s a great guy, Eric Stoltz,”
Fox added.
The Importance of Their Reunion for Fans and Hollywood History
Their long-delayed encounter offers fans of Back to the Future a rare glimpse of reconciliation behind a landmark film’s complex production story. It highlights how differing experiences during challenging moments in Hollywood can eventually lead to mutual respect and friendship. Moving forward, their story enriches the legacy of one of the most iconic sci-fi films and sheds light on the realities actors face during high-pressure projects.
