Michael J. Fox Talks Christopher Lloyd Friendship at Sundance

Michael J. Fox nearly broke the internet last October when he reunited with “Back to the Future” co-star Christopher Lloyd on stage at New York Comic Con. The duo were on the verge of tears as Fox emotionally hugged Lloyd and Lloyd put his arm around Fox. Their reunion led many “Back to the Future” fans to wonder if the two might collaborate on screen again. Fox reflected lovingly on Lloyd at the Variety Studio presented by Audible at Sundance, revealing their friendship didn’t take shape until the third “Back to the Future” movie.

“Chris is a great guy. He’s very enigmatic,” Fox said. “It took me a few films to get to know him. On ‘Back to the Future Part III’ we connected in a way we hadn’t on the other films. I came to see how much he loved acting. I never got that before. To sit down and talk about acting and talk about Shakespeare and ‘King Lear’… This guy can play King Lear! People don’t expect that of him. He’s full of surprises.

Fox continued, “He can tell a movie’s worth of story in two seconds and you get it. Us regular actors have to lay out hours and hours to get the information out. Chris is brilliant at it. His love of film and his love of being an actor… He’s not just a crazy guy, he’s an artist.”

The “Back to the Future” star earned a big standing ovation at Sundance after the world premiere of his new documentary “Still.” Directed by Davis Guggenheim, the documentary explores the intersection of Fox’s legendary career and Fox’s life with Parkinson’s disease. The film is already backed by Apple. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in the 1990s.

“I didn’t want to make a Parkinson’s movie. I don’t want to make a sick movie. I want to make a movie about a life,” Guggenheim told Variety. “The one think he said to me was, ‘No violence.’ We hope the tone of the movie is no pitying. This is a movie about a wild life, an incredible ride of ups and downs and a Hollywood 1980s movie star and what happens when life throws him a curveball.”

Fox famously joined “Back to the Future” after production was already underway, with Lloyd having filmed scenes with original Marty McFly actor Eric Stoltz. Director Robert Zemeckis came to realize that Stoltz wasn’t right for the part, so Fox was cast and the production had to reshoot scenes.