MovieChat Forums > Back to the Future (1985) Discussion > I think Eric Stoltz got screwed with Bac...

I think Eric Stoltz got screwed with Back To The Future

posted 16 days ago by VHSGuy123 (66)
25 replies | jump to latest

https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/1dznf7e/i_think_eric_stoltz_got_screwed_with_back_to_the/

This is going to be an Unpopular Opinion, but I think Eric Stoltz got screwed with Back to the Future.

Now I am going to say this, I Love Back to the Future and I love Michael J. Fox's performance in it and I think it is a perfect performance. However, I think the production for this film is crazy.

First off, yes Michael J. Fox was the first choice for the role. However, they couldn't get him because of his Family Ties commitment, so they had considered others. The producers favored C. Thomas Howell, but Sidney Sheinberg, the CEO at the time, preferred Eric Stoltz. Eventually when filming was about to begin, Zemeckis decided to go with Stoltz.

So they went and filmed with Stoltz for about 6 weeks, and Zemeckis decided to review the footage he had with Stoltz and felt that Stoltz's acting wasn't there (I think it is because Stoltz with the Method side of acting and did the role with a serious tone). so he, Spielberg, and gale decided they had to replaced Stoltz and tried to get J. Fox again, and this time, they were successful.

Why I think Stoltz got screwed. I just think the producers or Zemeckis just didn't have faith in Stoltz or try to lead Stoltz to be better with the comedic timing. I think they wanted J. Fox from the start and were hoping to get him and managed to. I also wonder what the script was when they were shooting with Stoltz as from what I read, and I think it was probably different. I feel Zemeckis should of tried harder with Stoltz.

Granted, Michael J. Fox does a fantastic job as Marty McFly, but I just feel Eric got screwed with the whole endeavor.

What do you think?

[–] Cognoscente (2778) 11 days ago

I think that Eric was fired because they saw an opportunity to make a film with a bigger star. In 1994, Stoltz told a reporter for the L.A. Times: "Zemeckis told me I was giving a good performance in a film he didn’t want to make – contemplative and thoughtful instead of comedic. I felt I could have done the part had he pointed me in that direction."

[–] VHSGuy123 (66) 9 days ago

Do you think they will ever release more footage from the Eric Stoltz version?

Especially with the 40th Anniversary coming up?

[–] Cognoscente (2778) 9 days ago

No, they had an opportunity to do something worthwhile in 2005 when DVD was all the rage, and in 2015 when those two books about BTTF were published.

Releasing the footage in its entirety would prove that they were just splitting hairs in order to get who they really wanted. Acting quality aside, the film-makers have always tried to play down the fact that principal photography was almost finished with Stoltz.

In the '80s, the story was almost told truthfully with the constant claim of "six weeks" but the story changed throughout the '90s - two weeks, three weeks, four weeks - because there was an attempt to do damage control. Bob Gale's excuse has always been that they don't want to make Stoltz look bad, but he already looks bad (especially when those three brief clips came out in 2010).

[–] VHSGuy123 (66) 9 days ago

I just don't understand why it took so long into filming to finally realize that it wasn't working.

I also been ready that even after Stoltz was fired, he was still on the payroll for about 2 weeks.

[–] Cognoscente (2778) 9 days ago

Similarly, actor Courtney Gains talked about how he, himself, was still on the payroll despite how much time had gone by (implying that he had already filmed what was needed at that point).

http://www.spectacularoptical.ca/2012/03/outlander-a-qa-with-courtney-gains/

One of the things that was said by a woman who claimed to work for Amblin is that the idea was to spend so much money that Universal couldn't back out when the time came to get Fox. I believe her because the Ultimate Visual History book contained similar info about Spielberg encouraging Zemeckis to keep on filming so that the film wouldn't be cancelled.

https://imgur.com/j52Cq78

[–] VHSGuy123 (66) 9 days ago

I have questions after reading Pop Cult Master on this subject.

One, Why didn't they film any Melora Hardin scenes as Jennifer. If it's to be correct, based on evidence supported by Testimonies, for the 1985 scenes they filmed.

Detention Scene (Later deleted, supported by Photos)

Family Dinner Scene (Confirmed by Marc McClure in a interview)

1985 Twin Pines Scenes (Confirmed by Photos)

Ending Scene (confirmed by Crispin Glover in a interview)

Also, I had to look up who Courtney Gains was and his role in Back To The Future. That is curious, I thought they didn't film the Prom Scenes.

[–] Cognoscente (2778) 9 days ago

Claudia Wells was originally considered but she ended up being too busy on a TV show like Fox, so it would appear that the producers realized that they might as well not film Jennifer's scenes until Claudia was available. They deliberately cast Melora knowing that she would be too tall for Fox.

It's like what happened with The A-Team. The role of Face was intended for Dirk Benedict but NBC wanted somebody else. Tim Dunigan was cast in the pilot but he was set up to fail because not only was he too young but he was too tall.

About the prom scenes, the following was taken from the below article: "Going by the accounts of what people have said about filmed scenes, it seems like that prom scene wasn’t filmed because the number of extras would make it too costly."

It should be noted that there was a budget cut in pre-production, hence the following passage: "It would appear that the only way for BTTF to be finished in its then-current form would be to have Marty succeed in being a matchmaker after seeing George punch Biff and reunite with Lorraine. This would mean that a financial restriction might have forced Rob Zemeckis to rewrite the prom night scene so that Marty pulls out his photo and sees that his siblings are completely visible."

https://popcultmaster.com/2019/03/21/to-heck-with-zemeckis/

[–] Tam87 (1592) 9 days ago

"Zemeckis told me I was giving a good performance in a film he didn’t want to make – contemplative and thoughtful instead of comedic. I felt I could have done the part had he pointed me in that direction."

Stoltz is right. If he wasn't happy with him being serious, he could've told him to do it different. That's what directors are for.

They just waited it out until MJF became available and fired stoltz.

[–] Cognoscente (2778) 9 days ago

Around the time that he was directing the Glee series, Eric wrote an article where he indirectly alluded to the BTTF situation. He said something like the number of directors who properly directed him in the '80s could be counted on one hand.

In the '90s, there was an interview that he did for the Bikini magazine where he said there are two kinds of directors who he had worked with - those who are like traffic cops and those who are like psychiatrists.

[–] Tam87 (1592) 8 days ago

the number of directors who properly directed him in the '80s could be counted on one hand.

Sounds like he's trying to pass the blame a bit. Despite Stoltz's considerable talent he still picked some duds along with auditioning for big films like Philadelphia but not getting it, and that can't really be blamed on directors.

[–] Cognoscente (2778) 8 days ago

But I also think that his career options were limited after the firing, so he had to take what he could get in order to pay the bills.

[–] Tam87 (1592) 7 days ago

I don't think Stoltz was ever short of options in the 80s and 90s. He had a major studio release every year, he just picked a lot of crap ones like The Prophecy and The Fly II.

[–] Cognoscente (2778) 7 days ago

After BTTF, he wasn't exactly rivalling Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer when it came to being offered leading men roles.

In a 1994 article, Eric expressed interest in being directed by Brian De Palma, Martin Scorsese, Stanley Kubrick and Terrence Malick. With the exception of Malick, Cruise was directed by all of them.

[–] GirlNamedSue (279) 8 days ago

"Stoltz is right. If he wasn't happy with him being serious, he could've told him to do it different. That's what directors are for."

Directors can ask but they can't change an actor's skill. Could Stoltz have had that light hearted and very charming approach that Fox exudes with no trouble? I really doubt it. Maybe Stoltzes version would have been excellent, but it wouldn't have been up to Foxs no matter how much direcxtion he got.

[–] Tam87 (1592) 8 days ago

Directors can ask but they can't change an actor's skill

Stoltz obviously feels that Zemeckis was using an excuse to get rid of him. They didn't want him, he was a second choice they were stuck with, and instead of telling him face to face that he wasn't good enough and that MJF was better, they pretended to him that he was just giving the wrong performance.

Stoltz could easily have played the part with more comedy, and Zemeckis could've guided him in that direction, but he had no intention of ever working Stoltz through his performance.

[–] GirlNamedSue (279) 8 days ago

The point is that no matter what Zemeckis asked of Stoltz, he could not have come close to what Fox did. Fox is who they wanted and who they envisioned as Marty. What they should have done was to shelve the movie until Fox was available. What I read online says Stoltz was paid so he wasn't "screwed". I don't know any explanation why they would have shot the movie with Stoltz if they didn't plan to release it. When Fox became available they spent the extra money and rolled the dice.

[–] Cognoscente (2778) 8 days ago

Ironically, Stoltz was cast because he looked like Fox (something that Kathleen Kennedy hinted at in that documentary on the 2010 Blu-ray).

[–] VHSGuy123 (66) 8 days ago

I read that they also tried to get C. Thomas Howell and that apparently he rehearsed for 2 weeks before they decided to go with Eric Stoltz.

One thing I wonder is that if MJF was the 1st choice, why didn't they push filming back.

[–] Cognoscente (2778) 8 days ago

I guess there was no guarantee that the sitcom producer would agree because of the possibility of Fox wanting to leave Family Ties to pursue a movie career. Spielberg's excuse in the October 24, 1985 issue of Rolling Stone: "I should have waited, and yet I wanted the film out for the summer."

In the December 1988 issue of Box Office, one of the three casting directors (Mike Fenton) said: "Everyone had just seen Mask, which Eric starred in and which Universal owned; and I think that the studio decided that Eric was going to become a very important actor. They thought it was a great idea to cast him in a role that was the exact opposite of the one in Mask, and Steven Spielberg allowed Universal to make that final decision."

Sidney Sheinberg claimed that if Spielberg didn't want Stoltz then he could easily have said no given his power.

About CTH and the 2 weeks of rehearsals: https://twitter.com/gmfb/status/938896888589312000

[–] Tam87 (1592) 7 days ago

I read that they also tried to get C. Thomas Howell and that apparently he rehearsed for 2 weeks before they decided to go with Eric Stoltz.

That proves that Zemeckis is an idiot.

C. Thomas Howell would've been the perfect second choice for Marty, he has all his qualities. He had much more of an everyman persona like MJF, while Stoltz was more of an intellectual, grounded type.

[–] Tam87 (1592) 7 days ago

The point is that no matter what Zemeckis asked of Stoltz, he could not have come close to what Fox did.

Of course, MJF is the only Marty. I'm saying that Zemeckis & Gale don't need to pretend that Stoltz was giving the wrong performance. If that was the case they would've told him to change it. They don't need to lie. They thought he wasn't good enough and that's it, and they likely strung him along waiting for MJF, which wasn't fair on him. It would've been humiliating for Stoltz.

[–] Cognoscente (2778) 8 days ago

Let's not forget that Eric wasn't that serious of an actor. Previously, he had been in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (the director originally wanted him for what became Sean Penn's role), Surf II and The Wild Life.

People always like to bring up Pulp Fiction as Eric's comeback role to comedy but he had already done that with his small role in Say Anything.

[–] VHSGuy123 (66) 7 days ago

Oh Yeah, I think him being a method actor was way overblown. Sure he wants to take it seriously, but he won't held up production. the films Eric did before being cast in Back To The Future were offbeat teen comedies, with the exception of Mask (Which was to get him into the big leagues).

I feel if Eric did something like The Breakfast Club, Amadeus or Ordinary People, Universal more or likely have told Zemeckis to figure it out with Stoltz and not recast him.

[–] melloeric (33) 9 days ago

But giving the role to Stolz would then have screwed over everyone else involved in the production. You dont spend years writing, editing, rewriting, studio and producer recruiting to let a light or sound guy derail your dream project and you certainly wouldnt let your lead actor underperform and wreck your career.

[–] TheEndIsNigh (509) 9 days ago

I don't give a shit. Just glad we got MJF to help make it a great film.