10 Actors Who Got Fired From Roles Of A Life Time
9. Eric Stoltz - Marty McFly (Back To The Future)
Back To The Future is one of the great films of the '80s. It introduced another generation to Chuck Berry, and made Michael J. Fox a star. And let's not forget that Huey Lewis classic: The Power of Love. This move is simply one of the great pieces of pop culture.
But the movie could have been very different. Indeed, the early cuts were so different to what the studio envisioned, they made the decision to scrap a full 5 weeks of footage, along with the leading man.
During the '80s Eric Stoltz was considered one of the great young talents of the era, he was known as a fairly serious actor who embodied the whole 'method' approach. This didn't really fit with the tone Robert Zemeckis envisioned for his movie. He wanted a lighthearted action-comedy, with a charismatic lead, who was both charming and funny. Stoltz's interpretation of Marty McFly was as a brooding teenager, crippled by anxieties brought on by altering the past. It just didn't land.
The studio fired Stoltz and begged their first choice, Michael J. Fox, to take the part. The issue was, Fox was under obligation to film the sitcom Family Ties. An arrangement was made whereby Fox would shoot all day on Family Ties, and work on Back to the Future at night.