Michael J Fox reveals how Family Ties nearly blocked him from Back to the Future — until Steven Spielberg intervened

Michael J. Fox has opens up about how Back to the Future almost slipped through his fingers in his new memoir, Future Boy.

In the book, co-written by Fox and Nelle Fortenberry, the five-time Emmy winner recalls how he managed filming the popular NBC sitcom Family Ties and the classic film Back to the Future simultaneously in 1985.

Fox writes that he was in his Family Ties dressing room when he received a phone call from the show’s creator and executive producer, Gary David Goldberg, to have a meeting after rehearsal.

“Going into the meeting at Gary’s office, I felt a sense of dread,” Fox writes. “Had I done something wrong? Was I about to get fired from the best job I’d ever had?”

Goldberg revealed that the lead role in a “big-budget Steven Spielberg movie” was intended for Fox, but because of his obligation to Family Ties, he couldn’t let him go. That film was, of course, Back to the Future.

Fox writes that Goldberg and Spielberg “had been friends for years, so the casting conversation was handled between them, without me or my agent involved.”

But after Eric Stolz was cast as Marty McFly and production on the film began, producers realized it wasn’t working.

“Eric was an immensely talented actor, but the creative team felt that he just wasn’t the right fit for Marty McFly,” Fox writes. “Spielberg and [Robert] Zemeckis hoped they could convince Universal to make a change and reshoot Eric’s scenes, but only if they could successfully lock me in for the part this time around.”

Spielberg pleaded with Goldberg to allow Fox to pull double duty, filming Family Ties during the day and Back to the Future at night.

“Already familiar with the script, he [Goldberg] knew I was perfect for Marty McFly. He wasn’t going to disappoint them — and me — twice,” Fox writes.

Goldberg relented, as long as Fox agreed to “handle both roles without missing one minute on his show.”

Fox, meanwhile, was shell-shocked by what had transpired.

“As I tried to register what was happening through waves of shock and disbelief (and, in truth, delight), Gary slid open the drawer of his Citizen Kane desk and handed me an envelope containing the Back to the Future script,” Fox writes, adding that he accepted the role without even looking at the script.

“I hurried home to read the script, but whatever was typed on those pages didn’t matter. I was already in.”

Fox fulfilled his duties to both Back to the Future and Family Ties, even continuing on with the sitcom after his fame skyrocketed following the film’s release.

Future Boy: Back to the Future and My Journey Through the Space-Time Continuum hits shelves October 14.