Michael J. Fox explains why he ‘hated’ driving Back to the Future’s DeLorean
Michael J. Fox thought Back to the Future's DeLorean was a "s*** car" and hated driving it.
Michael J. Fox hated driving the DeLorean in Back to the Future.
The 64-year-old actor starred in the beloved 1985 sci-fi classic as Marty McFly, and although the time-travelling car has become one of the most iconic vehicles in Hollywood history, Fox has admitted he didn’t think much of the DeLorean when making Back to the Future.
Writing in his recent memoir Future Boy, he said: “I get to drive the DeLorean. I know what you’re thinking … cool! I thought so too, at first, but soon I grew to hate driving the DeLorean.
“First of all, let’s face it – it’s a s*** car. Slow to accelerate, with cheap appointments - and that’s before our special effects crew added their two cents (or several million dollars, all in).”
The Family Ties actor added a slew of additional items were added to the interior of the DeLorean - though he soon found most of them were not entirely safe.
Fox explained: “Those jerry-rigged accoutrements – the flux capacitor and various time clocks and flourishes – tend to be rather rough-edged, metallic and sharp.
“After that first night in the driver’s seat and for the remainder of the movie, my hands are crisscrossed with lacerations, my knuckles bruised, and my elbows contused from slamming into the space-edged console.
“As they say in show business, pain is temporary, film is forever.”
In Back to the Future, teenager Marty McFly (Fox) is accidentally sent from 1985 to 1955 in a time-travelling DeLorean built by eccentric scientist Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd), where he must ensure his parents fall in love before returning to the future.
The movie - which was directed by Robert Zemeckis - also starred Crispin Glover as George McFly, Lea Thompson as Lorraine Baines McFly, Thomas F. Wilson as Biff Tannen and Claudia Wells as Jennifer Parker.
Elsewhere in the book, Fox recounted how Glover - who portrayed his on-screen father George McFly - “created friction” on the Back to the Future set by taking his character into his own hands.
Fox recalled: “Nobody puts Crispin in a box. But that didn’t prevent the camera crew from literally building a box around him.
“As George McFly, Crispin had his own ideas as to how and where his character should move.”
Fox explained that Glover, 61, wouldn’t stay on his mark while shooting a scene of dialogue.
He continued: “As Crispin approached the camera, he was meant to stay in a lane between the clothesline and me. But Crispin had a different plan.
“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.”
Fox added the crew “fabricated a miniature corral made of sandbags and C-stands, trapping Crispin into adhering to the parameters of the shot”.
However, Fox emphasised he “loved working” with the Willard actor on Back to the Future.
He said of Glover: “His talent was unquestionable, although his methods sometimes created friction. 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.”
