Fox recalled the confrontation between &34;Back to the Future&34; director Robert Zemeckis and his first assistant director over a dicey stunt in his new memoir

Fox recalled the confrontation between "Back to the Future" director Robert Zemeckis and his first assistant director over a dicey stunt in his new memoir, "Future Boy."

Back to the Future crew member saved Michael J. Fox from dangerous stunt pushed by director

Fox recalled the confrontation between "Back to the Future" director Robert Zemeckis and his first assistant director over a dicey stunt in his new memoir, "Future Boy."

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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October 18, 2025 9:00 a.m. ET

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Michael J. Fox in 'Back to the Future' (1985). Credit:

Universal Studios

It takes a village to make a movie. In the case of *Back to the Future*, it took several vital members of that village to stop their leader from making a dangerous mistake.

In his new memoir on the making of the classic 1985 time travel comedy, *Future Boy* (released on Tuesday) star Michael J. Fox pours out his respect and adulation for the film's stunt team, with particular regard to then-rising stuntman Charlie Croughwell, who doubled for Fox on the film.

"Without Charlie, there would be no *Back to the Future* as we know it," the actor wrote.

But there was one stunt so important to director Robert Zemeckis that not even Croughwell could save him.

Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox in 'Back to the Future'.

"I later discovered that Charlie's first stunt was a point of contention between Bob Zemeckis and the 1st AD," Fox wrote.

That assistant director, David McGiffert, recalled in conversation with Fox, "'I don't usually do this, but I had to put my foot down with Bob. He wanted you to be on the skateboard in front of the car, which would be pushing you. He had a certain angle in mind that only worked if you were the one doing the bit, so he said, 'Yeah, I want Michael to do it.' I shook my head. 'Bob, he can't do that.'"

So swords were drawn.

It's not unusual for directors and their assistants to have disagreements over issues like stunt safety, blocking, and camera placement. But a lot was riding on the success of *Back to the Future *for Fox, who was caught in the middle of the tense confrontation.

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The year 1985 marked his first pair of leading roles in feature films: *Future* and *Teen Wolf*, which Fox had already compartmentalized as "not my magnum opus" by the time he joined the former film. The breakout star of *Family Ties*, Fox was eager to show he had potential beyond the sitcom setup. With a team of talent behind it like Zemeckis, who directed *Romancing the Stone *to massive success the previous year, and Steven Spielberg, who was, well, Steven Spielberg, *Future *had to go perfectly.**

McGiffert recalled that he continued to press the issue with Zemeckis. "'You can't have your lead actor in that position. I know it's an off chance, but if he falls under the car, it's over in a heartbeat.'"

But Fox remembered that Zemeckis put his foot down, further escalating the conflict. "Bob really wanted his shot. He insisted again that I do the stunt, and that's when David, in a rare moment of defiance, said, 'Okay, if you do that, I'm going to have to put a note on the slate that says 'First AD protests.' And that's when Bob relented."

Michael J. Fox in 2024.

Terry Wyatt/Getty

** has reached out to a representative for Zemeckis for comment.**

With the stalemate broken, Fox and Croughwell went back to their respective duties.

"I did much of my own skateboard work in the movie, including hooking onto a few moving cars as they drove through Courthouse Square," Fox recalled. "But Charlie handled the crazy stunts. It was Charlie, not me, who sailed through the air the entire length of Biff's [Thomas F. Wilson] open convertible and reunited with the skateboard as it glided out the other end."

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Luckily for Fox, what seemed like an existential deadlock turned out to be just another day on the moviemaking grind. Shooting wrapped on *Back to the Future *(which Fox shot simultaneously with *Family Ties*, leading to grueling, sometimes 20-hour days), and the film was released to supersonic success. The film spent three months at the top of the domestic box office, winding up as the highest grossing film of 1985, earning an Academy Award for Best Sound Effects Editing, and transforming Fox's career for good.

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Source: "AOL Movies"

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