Originally, Eric Stoltz was set to play Marty McFly in the Back to the Future franchise, and the actor even spent five weeks on set filming. However, Steven Spielberg reportedly wasn't happy with Stoltz's performance, and they ended up recasting and reshooting the movie with Spielberg's first choice, Michael J. Fox (who was initially unavailable due to his shooting schedule with "Family Ties"). During an April 2007 interview with Moviehole, Stolz said he had no hard feelings about being let go. "In retrospect, I think just getting through that difficult period helped me realise how freeing it really was," he said.