Michael J. Fox recounted how a “Back to the Future” assistant saved him from performing a risky scene

During the filming of back to the future (1985), the action sequences were an essential part of the film’s charm. Skateboard chases, impossible jumps and maneuvers with the iconic DeLorean required precision and courage, especially for its protagonist, Michael J. Fox.

But behind every risky shot was a team of specialists whose job was to ensure that the magic of cinema did not end in tragedy.

In his new memoir, Future BoyFox dedicates a chapter to those anonymous heroes and reveals a story that, to everyone’s relief, had a fortunate ending.

Fox writes in his book that he feels enormous gratitude toward his stunt double, Charlie Croughwellwhom he describes with admiration.

“Without Charlie, there would be no back to the future as we know it,” he stated.

Still, there was one shot that even Croughwell couldn’t avoid. The director Robert Zemeckis He wanted to film a shot in which Marty was on a skateboard, pushed by a moving car, and he considered it essential that Fox himself do it.

First assistant director David McGiffert recalled how he opposed the idea. In conversation with Fox, he said: “Bob wanted you to be on the skateboard, in front of the car, for it to push you. I had an angle in mind that only worked if you took the shotso he said, ‘Yes, I want Michael to do it.’ I shook my head and said, ‘Bob, he can’t do that.'”

The disagreement became tense. McGiffert insisted that the scene put the protagonist’s life at risk. There were variables that could go wrong: the balance of the actor, the speed of the car, etc.

“You can’t put your lead actor in that position. I know it’s a long shot, but if he falls under the car, it’s all over in an instant.”.

As the argument continued, McGiffert stood before the director and gave him an ultimatum.

“He said, ‘Okay, if you do that, I’m going to have to put a note on the clapperboard that says, ‘The first assistant is on strike.’ And that’s when Bob relented,’” Fox wrote in Future Boy.

Thanks to that intervention, the actor did not have to take the most dangerous shot.

“I did a lot of my own skateboarding in the film, including holding on to some moving cars as they crossed the courthouse square. But Charlie did the crazy things. “It was Charlie, not me, who flew through the air over Biff’s convertible and fell back onto the skateboard as it came out the other end,” Fox recalled.

Future Boy He also remembers the complicated routine that the leading actor had due to his work commitments. Fox combined long days on the series Family Ties with night filming back to the futurewhich in total required up to 20 hours a day

Despite this exhaustion, the result was historic: the science fiction film grossed more than $380 million when it was shown in theaters and became the highest-grossing film of 1985. It also won an Oscar for Best Sound Effects Editing and was an irrefutable springboard for Michael J. Fox’s career.

The actor would face an even bigger scare years later. During the filming of Back to the future III (1990), Fox nearly died accidentally during a hanging scene, as he recalled in his autobiography. Lucky Man (2002).

This sequence showed Marty McFly hanging by the neck. To make it more realistic, Fox proposed removing the box that held him, leaving only his hands between the noose and his neck.

“This worked well for a couple of takes.”wrote. “But on the third, I miscalculated the position of my hand. With the noose around my neck, hanging from the scaffold, My carotid artery was blocked and I lost consciousness for a few seconds.”.

“I was swinging unconscious at the end of the rope for several seconds before Bob Zemeckis, although he was a fan of mine, He realized that I wasn’t even that good of an actor.”Fox recounted.

Zemeckis ordered filming to stop immediately and the actor was rescued in time.

After surviving the demands of action cinema, Michael J. Fox faced a much more personal battle.

In 1991 he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at age 29, but continued working for another decade before dedicating his life to research and philanthropy through The Michael J. Fox Foundation.