In a revealing and incredibly entertaining interview with Gold Derby, Back to the Future co-writer Bob Gale promoted his upcoming book (Back to the Future: The Complete Screenplay) by sharing a few thoughts, anecdotes, and behind-the-scenes stories about the legendary franchise. While the entire conversation is filled with gems (the book is also apparently a treasure trove of production materials and memories), the most remarkable part of the interview may be the revelation that Jeff Goldblum almost played Doc Brown.
In the past, we’ve heard that multiple people were (unsurprisingly) considered for the role of Doc Brown at some point during Back to the Future‘s production. Among them was reportedly Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh (who says he turned down the part), John Cleese, Gene Hackman, Albert Brooks, Gene Wilder, and more. However, to hear Gale tell it, the role really came down to John Lithgow, Jeff Goldblum, and Christopher Lloyd. Interestingly, all three actors were in The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, which Back to the Future co-producer Neil Canton had previously worked on.
It seems like Lithgow was simply unavailable for the role at the time, so he was ruled out of the conversation fairly early on. When it came down to Goldblum vs. Lloyd, though, Gale says that the crew loved both actors for the part. Canton had nothing but nice things to say about both of them. However, Gale says that the decision to go with Lloyd really came down to the feeling the actor gave in the room.
“There was just something about Chris that we responded to,” Gale recalls. “We said, ‘He’s going to kill this.’ And he did. It’s become an enduring part of cinematic history, this role.”
Interestingly, Gale also confirms a bit of Doc Brown lore by revealing that the official (but unused in terms of the final screenplay) backstory for the character confirms that Brown burned down his family home in order to claim the insurance money required to fund his research. It’s not quite as bad as Brown negotiating with terrorists to secure some plutonium, but to hear Gale tell it, that decision was never really a deal breaker in the first place.
“I think that’s one of the things that people love about the movie — today it would all be homogenized,” Gale says of Doc Brown’s shady deals. “If we were making this movie today, they would say, ‘Well, you can’t have Doc Brown be in business with terrorists.’ Well, but we did. And nobody has a problem with it, really. Because you just say, ‘OK, this is how passionate the guy is. He had to get his hands on plutonium somehow, and he was going to do whatever he could, because it was his science’…And in the way of the world today, that’s small beans right now.”
As for Goldblum, it’s surprisingly easy to imagine what his performance in Back to the Future may have been like vs. what we eventually got from Lloyd’s iconic portrayal. In fact, Gale believes we’ve kind of already seen his take on that character in another movie.
“Ironically, Jeff Goldblum plays Doc Brown in Jurassic Park, right?” Gale offers. “That’s how his Doc Brown would have been. You can watch Jurassic Park and say, ‘Ah, that’s how Jeff would have played it.’
