10 Best Last Minute Replacements For Actors In Major Movies

7. Michael J. Fox Over Eric Stoltz (Back To The Future)

Michael J. Fox was writer-director Robert Zemeckis' first choice to play Marty McFly in Back to the Future, but when scheduling conflicts got in the way, the director cast his second choice, on-the-rise young actor Eric Stoltz.

A month into filming, though, Zemeckis felt that he had made a casting mistake, and even with the decision adding $3 million to the budget, it was agreed to recast.

By this point, Fox's schedule was a little less hectic and he was hired to play Marty as originally intended, shooting his TV show Family Ties and the movie simultaneously (and reportedly getting just five hours' sleep per night).

Fox was a crowd-pleasing delight in the film and its two sequels, and it's pretty much unthinkable that anyone else could have taken the part. We'll never know exactly how Stoltz's performance would've turned out, but given that Zemeckis felt he emphasised drama over comedy too much, it clearly wouldn't have been as fun.