This year marks the 40th anniversary of the first Back to the Future movie. Although plutonium still isn’t available at the corner drugstore, Christopher Lloyd (Dr. Emmet Brown), James Tolkan (Mr. Strickland), and Claudia Wells (Jennifer Parker) emerged from the time-space continuum at the “Back to the Future 40th Anniversary!” panel on Friday at 2:30PM in Hyatt Centennial II-IV. Moderator Ryan Segur steered the guests through a series of questions while carefully navigating the pitfalls of time paradoxes.
The first question involved cosplay and costumes. Lloyd recalled trying to choose outfits for Doc Brown from the fitting racks. He did his best to select combinations that matched the character. Tolkan based his character on a teacher he’d had who would crack misbehaving students on the knuckles with a ruler. If you made the mistake of pulling your hand away, she would crack you over the head instead. Upon request, he scowled at the delighted attendees and growled, “You look like a bunch of slackers!”
When speaking of characters he’d like to play again, Lloyd said his favorite was always the one he was playing at any given moment—Doc Brown, Judge Doom, and Uncle Fester among them. When he was young, he noted, one of his favorite cartoon characters was Uncle Fester, whom he thought wasn’t really evil but was full of mischief. Decades later, Lloyd was lucky enough to be able to play Uncle Fester. Wells loved her roles. She joked about being nicknamed the “pilot queen” because of her roles in eight pilots, but she also played characters in six TV series. “Acting was freedom,” she said, a chance “to be fully and completely me.”
A favorite moment for Lloyd was filming the train chase scene in Back to the Future Part III. There he was, galloping toward the train, getting closer and closer, until the handle was within reach…and a stunt double took his place. “It was right there!” he cried. “I could have done it!” For Tolkan, his favorite moment was joining the cast of Back to the Future. “Exactly my answer,” Wells said. “I think I hit the jackpot.” Her favorite moment, though, is now, being able to laugh and hang out with fans who loved the movies.
All three guests spoke of how much they treasured working with Michael J. Fox, who was not originally cast as Marty McFly. Lloyd and Tolkan had spent six weeks filming with a different actor, Eric Stoltz, who had a more serious take on Marty. When the change to Fox was announced, they were surprised and a bit disappointed to have to refilm all those weeks of shooting. But Fox, Lloyd recalled, brought a comedic flair that had been lacking. “It was like magic,” Lloyd said. “His energy worked.” It was an exciting time. Because of that six-week delay and reshoot, Wells, who had been unable to accept the part of Jennifer due to a prior commitment, was able to regain the role. Fox, Tolkan said, was such an easy actor to work with. “Any scene with him was a privilege.” Wells agreed. Fox was “always very positive and upbeat,” she said, a trait that’s still obvious in his life as he tries to help others living with Parkinson’s disease.
Asked if they could time travel, would they choose the past or the future, Tolkan said he would go back to the day he was born and “try to avoid all the mistakes I have made.” Lloyd would like to see how the problems we face today work themselves out in the future. Wells would go back and meet Jesus Christ. “We all make mistakes,” she noted, “but He can fix them much better than I can.”
In closing messages to their fans, Lloyd, Tolkan, and Wells said, respectively, “Come again,” “Thanks for being here,” and “Go see Back to the Future: The Musical!” With that, they stood and took a selfie with the audience to treasure this moment for all time.
