This is Eric Stoltz. He plays Marty McFly
in the hit film trilogy Back to the Future. He'd go on to become one of
Hollywood's biggest stars, dominating the
decade, and the next, with huge blockbuster
movies and massive TV roles. He is now, today, an
American treasure. Now if you had a
DeLorean today, you could trace your way back to
a time where that reality was slowly coalescing. It existed. A time are Back to the Future
was a very different movie. And this guy, Michael
J. Fox, was just another kid on a TV show. A time when Crispin
Glover didn't just star in one Back to the Future
movie, he starred in all three. A time where he didn't
end up suing, and winning, against the very studio
that gave him the role. This is the story
of just how close we got to those realities. The story of what went
wrong with Marty McFly. And what really went
wrong with George McFly, and the actor that played him. You were wrong. Without just cause
or provocation, you denied me permission
to do something I have every right in the world to do! Back to the Future
was the brainchild of Robert Zemeckis and
Bob Gale, with some of the help from
Steven Spielberg. But it was not an idea the
world loved right away. In fact, almost
every studio the two took the idea to
absolutely hated it. The script was passed
on over 40 times before finally getting made. Some thought the movie was too
immature for mass audiences. Others, like Disney, thought
the movie was too inappropriate, because this is his mom. But when it was finally
picked up by Universal, two people were
cast as the leads. Crispin Glover as Marty's
dad, George McFly. And Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly. And filming would
finally get underway. You've probably heard
of method acting. It's a form of acting
where you essentially eat, sleep, and breathe the
character on and off set. You become that person. You're always acting. It's intense, but the people
who practice it swear by it. It's what led to
performances like this-- Well, Eric Stoltz, prior
to Back to the Future, was known as a
dramatic method actor. He took on serious
dramatic roles and treated the jobs and
characters equally as seriously, which sounds great. What could possibly make
for a better Marty McFly than a guy who envelops
everything about him every second of every day? Well apparently, a lot of
things could have been better. Back to the Future
shot for six weeks with Eric Stoltz as Marty. The movie itself would
only take about 13 weeks to shoot in its final form. So this was a long stretch. Half the length of a lot
of movie shooting times. And at about that six week mark,
almost everyone on the set of Back to the Future looked
around and said the same thing. This isn't working. And he showed me the first five
weeks of footage cut together. And he just said I don't think
we're getting the laughs that I was hoping we would get. See, for Stoltz, he
wasn't the first choice. Michael J. Fox was. But he was busy shooting
Family Ties at the time and couldn't take the role. But things got so bad
that the studio panicked. Stoltz wasn't bad, necessarily. But he was treating a hoverboard
riding, guitar playing, class skipper with
the same seriousness as De Niro in a gangster movie. Shockingly, everyone
quickly realized Eric Stoltz wasn't funny. So unfunny that the studio
spent $4 million to replace him. So they went to the execs
on Family Ties and begged for Michael J. Fox. And eventually, worked out
one of the craziest shooting deals you'll ever see. Michael would shoot Family
Ties, his show, on weekdays. And Back to the
Future on weekends. Oh, and every single
night of the week. He'd be picked up from
set on Family Ties, driven to Universal's lot. He'd film till 4:00
AM, be driven home. Sometimes literally
carried into his bed, and then picked back up again. Literally carried out of his
bed by a production assistant, into another truck at 6:00 AM to
shoot Family Ties the next day. Fox says he got
two hours of sleep a night on average
for three months. But things went a bit
different for George McFly. Hey, see you later, Pop. Time to change that oil. [CHUCKLING] Crispin Glover wasn't just
good as Marty's dad, George, in the original Back to the
Future, he was exceptional. He was funny, energetic,
and most importantly the perfect person to portray
a weak, mild mannered father. His performance in
the original film is one of the best
in the trilogy. But his character and
his role in the franchise is one of the strangest
stories in film to this day. First it starts with what
happened in the first film. Glover did not like
the original ending. At the end of that
film, the characters return to the present
wealthier in a nicer house with nicer cars, nicer
clothes, greater success. And Glover thought this
reduce the message of Back to the Future to
money buys happiness. So he voiced his concern. Apparently quite loudly
to both producers and the directors of the film. And come contract
time for part two, well things went just as poorly. Bob Gale would say that
Glover asked for as much money as Michael J. Fox. The studio said no,
and Glover threw a fit. Crispin Glover says he asked for
as much money as Biff's actor and got half. Glover said no, the
studio threw a fit. Regardless, Glover wouldn't
return for part two. But that's actually where
the story really gets weird. Like, kind of creepy weird. Bob Gale-- Yeah, Bob Gale was on. Yeah I think I listened to
it, and on your show he lied. He lied about some-- and you guys automatically
believed what he said. You may have seen
this scene from Back to the Future Part II. Here, Marty's dad hangs
upside down in the doorway because he's hurt his back. And this is apparently how the
doctor recommends he fix it. Well that's actually, kind
of, sort of Crispin Glover. Who, remember, refused
to appear in the movie. Instead of announcing
a recasting, Universal decided they'd
try to hide Crispin Glover's departure. They casted Jeffrey Weissman
as the new George McFly. A move that even the actors
on set weren't happy with. Lea Thompson stayed away from
him on set out of loyalty to Glover. And the first words out
of Michael J. Fox's mouth upon meeting Weissman
was apparently quote, "Crispin ain't gonna
like this" unquote. And there's a reason for that. The lengths they went to
trick moviegoers was strange. The beginning of the first
film starts with Crispin Glover as older George McFly. So the studio had to get
moldings of George's face to do the makeup, and get
him in it every single day. George being Glover. But for part two,
they actually took the moldings of Glover's
face from part one, and put the new actor
inside a prosthetic made of Glover's face molds. And then spliced in footage
of Glover from part one to make it look more real. They literally put
Crispin Glover's face onto another human being. And then, when that didn't
look convincing enough, they decided to write
in a back injury and literally hang him
upside down in hopes that the audience would
have a tougher time telling the difference. Yep, that is why
this scene exists. And this is a big
deal because the split between Crispin Glover and
Bob Gale, Robert Zemeckis, and Universal was not amicable. Crispin Glover held a lot
of hate for the studio immediately thereafter
and still to this day. He did not sign off, or
approve of his likeness being used for part two as a result. So when he saw part two and
realized wait, that's me. He was angry. So angry he decided to risk
his place in the industry, and sue the studio. A lawsuit by the way, he won. A landmark decision that
would prevent movie studios from ever doing something
like that again in the future. Literally changed how
the industry operated. While Eric Stoltz just didn't
have the comedic chops to cut it as Marty, Crispin
Glover was almost rebuilt from the ground up. Back to the Future and
Back to the Future-- What these movies are,
are great examples of how important it is to
identify when things aren't right before it's too late. And ironically, that
just might be the message of these very movies. Maybe Universal had a
DeLorean of their own. Or hey, maybe Crispin Glover
was just sick of this. Hello! Hello! Anybody home? Think, McFly, think. That is it for this
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