Marking the 40th anniversary of Back to the Future (1985), Michael J. Fox recently went back to the ’80s to reminisce about making the time-travel classic.
In his new memoir Future Boy, now available, the 4x Golden Globe winner recalled how his co-star Crispin Glover “created friction” behind the scenes with his scrambled approach to portraying Marty’s (Fox) hapless dad George McFly.
“Nobody puts Crispin in a box. But that didn’t prevent the camera crew from literally building a box around him,” wrote Fox, according to the New York Post. “As George McFly, Crispin had his own ideas as to how and where his character should move.”
Fox recalled filming a scene of dialogue with Glover in which he wouldn’t stay on his mark.
“As Crispin approached the camera, he was meant to stay in a lane between the clothesline and me. But Crispin had a different plan,” he wrote. “My guess is that he saw George as a wanderer, a free spirit who traveled in random patterns — in this case, perpendicular to the camera.”
The actor explained that the crew “fabricated a miniature corral made of sandbags and C-stands, trapping Crispin into adhering to the parameters of the shot.”
Fox noted that he “loved working” with Glover, whose role as George McFly was recast for the sequels Back to the Future Part II (1989) and Part III (1990).
“His talent was unquestionable, although his methods sometimes created friction,” he noted. “Still, I respected how he remained true to George (as he understood and embodied him).
“I knew Crispin Glover prior to Back to the Future. I wouldn’t, however, say I was prepared to act with him — there’s no way to prepare for Crispin. With Chris Lloyd, I had an inkling of what he was up to. Neither he nor Crispin ever did the same thing the same way twice,” added Fox.
The post Michael J. Fox Recalls How Crispin Glover “Created Friction” On ‘Back to the Future’ Set: “No Way To Prepare” appeared first on Deadline.
