Back to the Future star Tom Wilson revealed the shocking behavior that led to the original Marty McFly actor being replaced. The iconic Back to the Future trilogy began in 1985 with cast members Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover and Wilson.

Eric Stoltz was the original actor who signed on to play Marty McFly, but he was eventually recast, with Fox taking over the role. Now Wilson has opened up about what led to Stoltz’s firing.

During an appearance on the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast, the Biff Tannen actor admitted that Stoltz employed a “very method-heavy approach” when playing Marty McFly on the set of Back to the Future. “He was treating me very badly because he wanted to be called Marty by everyone,” Wilson claimed.

Wilson found the behavior to be odd, especially because Stoltz had previously worked with Thompson on a movie and was treating her like she was an old friend instead of acting “uncomfortable around her” like he should have been.

“They were all palsy-walsy there, but he’s treating me badly, so I thought it was a selective method back then,” Wilson said.

While the cameras were rolling on Back to the Future, it didn’t feel like Wilson and Stoltz were even “in the same scenes together” since the latter’s approach to playing Marty McFly was more serious in nature.

“We were very young men, and it was a long time ago, and I have utmost respect for Eric as a person and his wonderful career and all of those things. But we were young guys together in a thing, and Eric was doing a very, very method-heavy approach to Marty McFly. So he was treating me very badly because he wanted to be called Marty by everyone. By everyone, by the hair stylists and by the director and by everyone. He was trying to embody Marty. I thought it was odd coming in because he’d been in a movie with Leah Thompson. He was supposed to be uncomfortable around her, but to him, she was Leah and they were all palsy-walsy there, but he’s treating me badly. So I thought it was a selective method back then.”

“And back then, I didn’t appreciate that because I have an instrument too. I’m on this stage as well as you are. So we both need what we need to work this scene. I am not your servant in this scene where I’ll be a particular way to make you comfortable. We’re here together in order to do this. And I’m not asking you to do anything, to call me anything, to do anything. I’m asking you to know the words and show up here ready to rock. And there was a lot of drama and angst and a lot of things that I think were not productive as a young man back then that led to his being replaced.”

When asked if he was shocked by Stoltz’s firing, Wilson answered in the affirmative, since it’s a big deal to replace one of the lead stars, but added that he didn’t feel elation at hearing the news.

He actually thought he was the one who was going to be fired. The producers called him at home and asked if he could stop by the Universal lot without revealing the reason why. “It was the longest drive I’ve ever taken in my life,” Wilson explained.

“I was shocked because it was a big thing for a movie to do that. It was a big thing. So things were getting very uncomfortable in the set, in discussions with Bob Zemeckis the director, with Dean Cundey the cinematographer. Things were unusual and then everything got shut down, and I thought they’re pulling the plug on the movie. I guess it’s over.”

“And then the producers called me at home and said, ‘Tom, could you come in? We’d like to talk to you about something.’ And I thought, ‘It’s me. I’m getting fired. I’m the bad thing in the movie because I didn’t understand what was going on in scenes with him.’ I’d done a lot theatre and things and I would walk away from the scene thinking, ‘What was that?’ I don’t think we were in the same scene together. And I thought, ‘I guess he’s right because he’s done movies. I must be wrong.’”

“It was Bob Gale. ‘Bob, just tell me. Just tell me on the phone. I’ll just take it.’ He said, ‘We’d like you to come down here. Could you drive down to the office at Universal?’ It was the longest drive I’ve ever taken in my life. And I’m thinking, just stand up, be a gentleman about things, be professional, stand up, shake their hand, say, ‘Thank you for the opportunity,’ and then we’ll just figure out what to do in life because it’ll not be this, I guess.”

Fortunately for him, Wilson wasn’t the actor being fired. When director Robert Zemeckis and producer Bob Gale broke the news that Stoltz had been let go instead, Wilson felt like a “cartoon guy who melted and just [slid] off the chair.”

“So they bring me into the office and Bob Zemeckis, Bob Gale, and they said, ‘Listen, Tom, we have some bad news. We had to replace Eric.’ I must admit I wasn’t that elated, but I was like a cartoon guy who melted and just sliding off the chair and just go, ‘Wow, okay. Hey, is he okay?'”

The actor was then informed that Fox would be replacing Stoltz, and they would have to reshoot every scene, which took around six weeks to film.

“We’re going to reshoot everything with this guy from a TV show, Michael J. Fox, who’s on a hit TV show. He’s going to come in. I knew of him. Yeah, I didn’t know him. And then we’re going to redo everything we’ve done. And it was six weeks of shooting. So we’re going to do all of that over with this Michael J. Fox guy.”

Once Fox began filming his scenes, it became obvious to everyone involved that he was the right actor for the role. Wilson said, “I was so relieved because it felt like we did a scene together, not you were doing a thing and I was doing a thing.”

“I was so relieved. I was so relieved because it just felt like we did a scene together, not you were doing a thing and I was doing a thing.”

Despite Stoltz’s behavior on set and the unfortunate way he exited the production, Wilson still has the “utmost respect” for him “as a person and his wonderful career.“

After being dropped by Back to the Future, Stoltz went on to star in movies such as Say Anything…, Little Women, Anaconda, and The Butterfly Effect, and directed several TV episodes for shows like Law & Order, Grey’s Anatomy, Glee, How to Get Away with Murder and Madam Secretary.

Meanwhile, Back to the Future, which has had a long-lasting impact on pop culture, went on to gross $398 million at the box office and received multiple award nominations at the Oscars and Golden Globes. Two sequels were released in 1989 and 1990, and an animated TV show aired from 1991 to 1992.