Michael J. Fox Says ‘Back to the Future’ Co-Star Crispin Glover “Created Friction” On Set: “Nobody Puts Crispin in a Box”

Michael J. Fox is opening up about the Back to the Future set — and the behind-the-scenes tension caused by his on-screen dad.

In his new memoir Future Boy, Fox claims his Back to the Future co-star Crispin Glover “created friction” during the making of the 1985 classic. Glover, who played Marty McFly’s father George, apparently brought his own unique energy — and unpredictability — to the set.

Fox wrote that while he’d known Glover before filming began, nothing could’ve prepared him for his co-star’s approach. “He never did the same thing the same way twice,” Fox recalled, adding that Glover “had his own ideas” about George’s behavior — ones that didn’t always match what director Robert Zemeckis and the crew envisioned.

“Nobody puts Crispin in a box,” Fox joked in his memoir. “But that didn’t prevent the camera crew from literally building a box around him.”

Fox shared that during one scene, Glover repeatedly wandered away from his mark. “As Crispin approached the camera, he was meant to stay in a lane between the clothesline and me. But Crispin had a different plan,” he wrote. “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.”

Eventually, the crew came up with a creative fix. “They fabricated a miniature corral made of sandbags and C-stands, trapping Crispin into adhering to the parameters of the shot,” Fox said.

Despite the on-set challenges, Fox insists he “loved working” with Glover. “His talent was unquestionable, although his methods sometimes created friction,” he wrote. “Still, I respected how he remained true to George (as he understood and embodied him).”

Glover, who was just 21 at the time, did not return for the sequels Back to the Future Part II (1989) or Part III (1990); his role was recast with actor Jeffrey Weissman.

Fox also reflected on his dynamic with co-star Lea Thompson, admitting they didn’t immediately click after he replaced her friend Eric Stoltz in the lead role. “Probably not because I was friends with Eric Stoltz, who had just gotten fired,” Thompson said in a 2024 interview. Still, the two later developed a strong working relationship.

Beyond the nostalgia, Fox continues to speak candidly about his life with Parkinson’s disease, which he was diagnosed with at 29. “There are not many people who have had Parkinson’s for 35 years,” he told The Sunday Times. “I’d like to just not wake up one day. That’d be really cool. I don’t want it to be dramatic. I don’t want to trip over furniture, smash my head.”

In a separate interview with People, the Teen Wolf star described the day-to-day realities of living with the disease: “I wake up and get the message of what the day is gonna be like, and I try to adjust to it,” he said. “I keep getting new challenges physically, and I get through it.”