Michael J. Fox worked 20 hours a day while filming Back to the Future
Michael J Fox had first-hand experience with burnout during filming Family ties And Back to the future at the same time.
“For three long months, I was Alex, I was Marty, and I was Mike. That’s two too many. In order to complete my work, at least one of them had to leave, and Mike was the odd one out,” Fox, 64, wrote in his new memoir, published on Tuesday, October 14. “This is the story of what happened during that fateful period, when I completed the third season of the film.” Family ties while I’m also filming Back to the future. I was Alex P. Keaton by day and Marty McFly by night.”
In the book, titled Future Boy: Back to the future and my journey through the space-time continuumFox stated that he worked 20-hour days, which left “little time to be me.” It took the actor “four decades to put it all together,” he wrote.
While the book is a love letter to Back to the futureFox was also honest about what his busy working weeks looked like.
Fox wrote that he would be “most rested” at 9 a.m. Monday morning, when he was picked up for Family ties. At 5pm the show was over and he was on his way to the Back to the future set.
“This will be my first release of the week. I’ll grab something to eat in my dressing room, pack my stuff Back to the future script under my arm, and at a quarter to five I’m in the Teamster-driven station wagon, headed to Universal,” he wrote. Back to the future script for the scene we’re filming that night, and I start memorizing Marty’s lines. Somewhere above Cahuenga Pass, I manage to push Alex’s voice out of my head and tune it to Marty—his cadences, his disbelieving crackles.
Michael J. Fox in ‘Back to the Future.’
Everett CollectionMonday night turned into Tuesday morning and Fox was set to wrap the movie at 2:30 am. As for sleeping? That didn’t happen until well after 3:15 a.m., he wrote.
When Fox woke up at 7 a.m. Tuesday morning, there was “an overhaul Family ties script was waiting outside my apartment door,” he recalled, noting that the day was devoted to rehearsals. Just like the night before, he was on his way at 6 p.m Back to the future, packing in the early hours of the next day.
“People often ask me how I memorize so much dialogue. My method has always been the same: I don’t memorize the lines; I absorb them,” Fox wrote. “I take pictures with my eyes and print them in my brain.”
The importance of silence. As Michael J. Fox reflects on his wildly successful career and his 32-year battle with Parkinson’s disease, the Back to the Future star finds crucial moments of quiet contemplation in his new documentary Still. The Apple TV+ film, which premiered on the streaming service on Friday, May 12, features candid interviews […]
Friday was the biggest difference in Fox’s week because of the Family ties are alive to withdraw.
“In the minutes leading up to the audience taping, I feel a rush of adrenaline,” Fox said. It’s ironic, but despite all the effort it took to get to this point, I feel more energized than exhausted. I love working, especially under the pressure of a live performance. It works as a catalyst for me.”
Brian Bonsall, Michael J. Fox, Meredith Baxter in ‘Family Ties.’
Courtesy of Everett CollectionThe live taping ended his day at 11pm, and yes, he still had to start filming Back to the future.
“Fridays are definitely the most demanding days for cast and crew. Due to my late arrival we are forced to shoot all night,” he wrote. “We wrap at dawn. I don’t even remember driving home.”
Future boy is out now.
