As someone who has watched Back to the Future many times, it’s always looked like a lot of work on Michael J. Fox’s shoulders. He’s in most of the scenes, and they involve a lot of running and stunts. However, I totally forgot that his first adventure in the DeLorean overlapped with Family Ties when it came out in 1985, so I didn’t realize how “exhausted” he was during the first Back to the Future.
That is until The 'Burbs star Courtney Gains pointed it out. Gains had a small appearance during the Enchantment Under the Sea dance as Dixon, or the one who attempted to keep Marty’s parents from dancing together. This isn’t the first BTS story we’ve gotten about Fox on set, but it’s the first time I’ve thought about how busy he must have been juggling two major projects. The actor was brought up when Gains spoke with People about his time on the movie:
What I just remember about him when we did the dance scene was just realizing how exhausted he was, going from one show to the other, sleeping in the limo essentially, and how much of a trooper he was and how hard he worked. He took the greatest moment in his life and capitalized, but he didn’t sleep a lot. I’ll tell you that.
I fully get why Fox would be exhausted. When the first movie came out in 1985, this was in the middle of Family Ties’ run. Additionally, the final season aired the same year the second Back to the Future hit theaters. So it’s a fair assessment that Fox was feeling those back-to-back-to-back hours. The first movie celebrated 40 years last year, and I’ve been riding that nostalgic high ever since. (Though I’m still waiting on someone to invent a hoverboard.)
The cast has reunited multiple times at conventions, so fans always get a chance to go back in time. Fox stepped away from acting when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, but he has never stopped showing up to hang out with his former co-stars and meet fans. Every time the actor gets a round of applause (or, more often, a standing ovation), I get teary-eyed. After retiring from acting in 2020, he famously returned for Shrinking Season 3, which can be seen with an Apple TV subscription. He has been open about the struggles of the disease and how exhausting it can be.
Similarly, Gains keeps busy on the convention circuit. He primarily attends conventions for his horror movies, such as the '80s Children of the Corn, which he starred in. He has yet to reunite with any of the Back to the Future cast (that I’m aware of), though fingers crossed he will one day. Even though he had just a small part, the actor is proud to be part of “one of the biggest trilogies of all time.”
