MAKING HISTORY

OVER THREE FILMS SPANNING 130 YEARS, MICHAEL J. FOX AND CHRISTOPHER LLOYD FORMED A LIFELONG FRIENDSHIP. AS BACK TO THE FUTURE HITS 40. WE THEN FOR A NOSTALGIC TRIP THROUGH TINE

WORDS OLLY RICHARDS

“YOU MADE MY CHILDHOOD”

For decades now, people have been excitably approaching Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox to offer some version of this declaration. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the release of Back To The Future, about as pure an embodiment of youthful wish-fulfilment as you could imagine, and its fanbase is only growing. People who sat in cinemas to watch the adventures of Doc and Marty, played by Lloyd and Fox, still hold the film close to their hearts. Many of those fans have now inducted children of their own. The childhoods to make keep racking up.

“It continues to amaze me how deeply the Back To The Future films affected young people,” Lloyd says. “It still comes up all the time.” He repeats, with something between bafflement and wonder: “‘You made my childhood.’”

Without missing a beat, Fox interjects, “And if you’re fucked up, it’s not our fault!”

For all the things in the movie’s favour — Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis’ fleet-footed script; the latter’s open-hearted direction — it’s the chemistry between its leads that has seen Back To The Future endure. Doc and Marty are so instantly likeable, and Lloyd and Fox’s connection so easy, that audiences never really questioned why a middle-aged eccentric and a schoolboy are hanging out together at night. The movie never explains it. It doesn’t need to. We immediately believe these two have a shared history.

We’re talking to Lloyd and Fox over Zoom — they’re on opposite coasts of the US — and though they’re both now men in their senior years, the dynamic is unchanged. Lloyd, 86, is avuncular, a little eccentric and unafraid to be earnest. Fox, 64, is charming, irreverent and quick to puncture the moment with a gag if anyone gets too serious. They’re at complete ease with each other. Lloyd will often sit back in his chair and let Fox do most of the talking, laughing at every one of his jokes. Fox frequently puts himself down to talk his friend up (“Chris somehow looks 40 years younger”) and steadfastly refuses to take any credit for the film’s success.

We’ve brought them together to look back on a friendship that has continued well beyond the five years they spent making the trilogy, and an on-screen pairing that made little sense on paper yet has become one of the most beloved in cinema. “We didn’t do anything to manufacture it. We didn’t set out to do it,” says Fox. “But I’m really proud to be part of the Doc and Marty team.” Lloyd grins down the lens. Fox adds: “The Chris and Mike team.”