Michael Jay Fox: what films influenced the actor's career (20 photos)

I am sure that if you ask viewers about the most famous film with Michael J. Fox, most viewers will definitely name the Back to the Future trilogy, although he has had many other famous films.





Brief biography

Michael J. Fox was born on June 9, 1961 in Canada to a military man and an actress. In addition to himself, there were five more children in the family, and due to the nature of his father's work, the family had to constantly move from place to place.

Michael himself was very keen on hockey since childhood and even dreamed of becoming a hockey player in the future, but his height left much to be desired, so he had to forget about a hockey career.



As a result, Michael decided to try himself in acting, signing up for acting classes. His teacher repeatedly noted that Michael definitely had acting talent, and that he could really become an actor. And so it happened.

Beginning of a career

At the age of 12, Michael first starred in the television series "Wanderers" (1973), where he played a tiny role in one of the episodes. At that time he was still signed as Michael Fox (I will tell you later why he became Jay).

Naturally, this role did not bring him success, as did subsequent episodic and crowd roles. The most notable role at the beginning of his career can be called the role in the Canadian series "Leo and Me", which was filmed in 1976, but which was shown only in 1981.





Still from the film "Leo and Me"

As for full-length films, the first in his career was the film "Midnight Madness" (1981), where Fox played the role of Scott Larson. However, it is unlikely that many of you have even seen this film. Personally, I have not seen it.

Success

Michael J. Fox's first success can confidently be called the series "Family Ties", which lasted from 1982 to 1989. Michael played the main role in this series, but he had to sweat a little to get it.

The thing is that Matthew Broderick was originally planned for this role. But Matthew himself was afraid that participating in a multi-season TV series could affect his film career, so he decided to refuse. As for Michael Fox, he was a backup option for this role, since he also showed himself quite well at the audition.



Still from the series "Family Ties"

Fox was told that since Broderick left the series, the role would most likely go to him. All that was required of Michael was to wait for a call from the filmmakers. The only problem was that he didn't have a phone at home, so he left the number of the nearest phone booth. Yes, Fox really sat near the booth waiting for the call (including spending the night near it), but his expectations were not in vain. In the end, at one fine moment, the call did come and Michael was invited to the filming.

The series "shot" quite well, thanks to which the series was nominated for various television awards more than once, and Michael Fox's career began to climb.

He began to be invited to big films, and not just for episodic appearances. For example, he played a minor role as a schoolboy named Arthur in the film "Class of 1984" (1982).



Still from the film "Class of 1984"

And already in 1983, Michael got his first leading role in the television film "American School", where he played a character named J.J. Meyers.

At that very time, the moment occurred due to which Michael Fox received the middle name Jay. The fact is that there was already such an actor as Michael Fox, and the guild prohibited the presence of two full namesakes. In such cases, one of the actors received the middle name. So Michael Fox became Michael J. Fox.



Still from the film "American School"

And then something happened that made Michael's career skyrocket. Yes, we are talking about the film "Back to the Future". Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis immediately wanted to see Fox in their film about time travel, since they really liked the actor's performance in "Family Ties", and Michael himself really wanted to star in this film. But the studio "Paramount" was sharply against it, since they were afraid that Fox "would catch a star".

Spielberg and Zemeckis did not insist too much and began to look for another actor for the role of Marty McFly. In the end, the actor Eric Stoltz was cast for this role. But when a third of the film with Stoltz had already been shot, Eric was asked to leave. There are several versions of Stoltz's dismissal, starting with the fact that he did not look like an average schoolboy, and ending with the fact that he contradicted Spielberg and interfered with his advice.



Eric Stoltz and Christopher Lloyd on the set of the film "Back to the Future"

Be that as it may, the director and producer again had to look for an actor for the main role. They decided to try again with Paramount to get Michael J. Fox, but they were adamant.

Then Spielberg turned to his influential friend George Lucas for help in this situation. And he really helped. The studio agreed to give Michael, but only if it did not harm Family Ties. As a result, poor Fox had to film either on his day off or after filming Family Ties at night. That is why there are so many night scenes in the film.



Michael himself said that it was a hellish time, because he worked from early morning until late at night, and there was practically no time for sleep. But it was worth it, because the film "Back to the Future" became a megahit, collecting 381 million dollars with a budget of only 19 million. Well, thanks to this, Michael J. Fox's career just took off like a rocket, and he was actively invited to other films.



Still from the film "Back to the Future"

Well, right after filming in the film "Back to the Future", Fox was invited to play the main role in the film "Teen Wolf" (1985) about a high school student who learns that he is actually a werewolf. In theory, it was supposed to be a low-budget film (4 million dollars), which needed to be shot quickly just to close the studio position.

Michael Fox himself did not like the movie "Teen Wolf", but, apparently, thanks to the success of the movie "Back to the Future", the movie about the werewolf was able to earn 33 million dollars, which was a pleasant surprise for everyone.



Still from the movie "Teen Wolf"

In 1987, Fox appeared in the movie "The Secret of My Success", which also did well at the box office. With a budget of 12 million dollars, two of which went to Michael, the film collected 110 million at the box office, which was another success, although not as chic as in the case of the movie "Back to the Future".

Failures

But then a series of failures followed for Michael, because the following films with his participation did not even pay off at the box office, not to mention success. For example, the film "Daylight" collected only 10.5 million dollars with a budget of 8 million. The film "Bright Lights, Big City" was able to take only 16 million with a budget of 25 million dollars. Well, the film "Casualties of War" was able to scrape together only 18.6 million dollars with a budget of 22 million.



Still from the film "Casualties of War"

It would seem that something went wrong, and Michael's career began to collapse. But fortunately, he had an ace up his sleeve, namely, filming in the sequel to the film "Back to the Future".

Second Wave of Success

In general, Robert Zemeckis initially did not want to shoot the second part of the film "Back to the Future", and according to his idea, the film was completed. Yes, at the end of the film we saw the inscription "To be continued", but it was added later. In the original version, the film immediately ended with the final credits.



Still from the film "Back to the Future Part II"

But after the stunning success of the film in theaters, in reruns and on video, in 1989 Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale and Steven Spielberg decided to make a sequel, inviting all the actors from the original cast... Almost all of them. Claudia Wells refused to film due to her mother's serious illness, so Jennifer was played by actress Elizabeth Shue. And Crispin Glover, who played George, caught the star and began to demand a higher fee, so his character was "killed" in the sequel, and in some scenes he was replaced by a stunt double.

At the same time as the filming of the second part, the filming of the third part about the Wild West was in full swing. For both of these films, Michael J. Fox received the largest fee in his life - 10 million dollars. As a result, the second part of the film with a budget of 40 million dollars collected 332 million. As for the third part of the film, it collected just over 240 million dollars with a budget of 40 million. Yes, the film made a lot of money, but much less than the previous two parts.



Still from the film "Back to the Future 3"

But it was during the filming of the film "Back to the Future 3" that a turning point in his life occurred. Surely, many of you know that during the scene of Marty's hanging, the mechanism did not work and Fox almost died from the rope around his neck. When the crew noticed that Fox was acting too naturally, they immediately realized that something was wrong and saved the poor guy.

Most likely, it was this episode that provoked Parkinson's disease in Michael J. Fox in the future.



The film "Doctor Hollywood"

After filming the third part of the film "Back to the Future", Fox was invited to play the main role in two films. We are talking about such films as "Doctor Hollywood" and "Blow It Away", released in 1991. It was during the filming of these films that Fox began to notice that his fingers were shaking. Having turned to doctors, he received a disappointing diagnosis - Parkinson's disease. But the films themselves showed themselves quite well, and for each of them Michael received 5 million dollars.

The second wave of failures

But the following films with Michael's participation were not so popular, and one after another failed at the box office. We are talking about such films as "Concierge" (1993), "Where Rivers Run North" (1993), "Greed" (1994), etc. Although, I admit honestly, I was absolutely delighted with the film "Greed", and more than once watched it on TV when I got to it.



Still from the film "Greed"

After such failures, Michael was no longer given such large fees, and his price tag fell sharply. His role in the big-budget film "The American President" did not help his career, since this film also failed at the box office.

Well, in 1996, the film "The Frighteners" (about a psychic who can see ghosts) was released, which was directed by Peter Jackson and produced by Robert Zemeckis. But the film also ultimately failed at the box office, collecting 29 million dollars with a budget of 30 million. By the way, this was the last leading role in the career of Michael J. Fox.



Still from the film "The Frighteners"

The reason for such a failure could be the adult rating, as well as the unfortunate time for showings in cinemas (summer), because at test screenings everyone was delighted with the film. And I also really liked it as a child.

End of a career

Only after the release of the film "The Frighteners" did Michael J. Fox publicly admit that he suffers from Parkinson's disease. After that, the actor no longer received big roles in films. Even in such famous films as "Mars Attacks" (1996) and "Interstate 60" (2002), he received only small roles. And between these films, he only took part as a voice actor in such films as "Stuart Little" (1999) and "Homeward Bound 2" (1996).



Still from the film "Interstate 60"

After that, he appeared in big films only in episodic roles or as a voice actor. For example, in 2011, he even returned to the project "Back to the Future", but not to the film, but to the computer game. True, he was too old to voice Marty himself, so he got the role of William McFly, as well as the role of several Martys from different versions of the future at the end of the game.

According to Fox himself, upon learning of his illness, he himself refused good roles, as he was afraid that he simply would not be able to handle such difficult filming for him.



TV series "Clinic"

Nevertheless, Michael sometimes appeared in famous television projects, for example in the same "Clinic", but this could not save his career.

Michael J. Fox himself admitted that he has not died yet only thanks to the money that he was able to earn during his successful career, as well as thanks to the foundation that he himself founded.



Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox

By the way, Michael J. Fox received an honorary Oscar for the Parkinson's disease research foundation he founded, which is called the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.



I wonder how Michael J. Fox's career would have turned out if it weren't for his Parkinson's disease? Unfortunately, we will never know.