It is hard to believe Tom Wilson actually thought he was going to get cut from the movie. He was perfect for this role. I dont think anyone could have played Biff better than he did.
Even though Thomas Wilson wasn't cut from the movie, he was still mad at Bob Zemekis for stealing his line telling Eric Stoltz to make like a tree and get out of here (or leave).
Thomas F. Wilson was cast as Biff Tannen because the producers felt that the original choice, J. J. Cohen, wasn't physically imposing enough to bully Stoltz. Cohen was recast as Skinhead, one of Biff's cohorts. Had Fox been cast from the beginning, Cohen probably would have won the part because he was sufficiently taller than Fox.
@@VenusHeadTrap2 A simple Google search would "explain" precisely what I'm talking about. It's an extremely common phrase and I find it very hard to believe you don't know its meaning.
@@MarySmith-lv3mo i honestly never thought of that. if tom cruise played marty on the other hand... but tom's a villainous scientologist, anyway. i bet tom makes foxy feel tall, though. :P
Tom Wilson is the backbone of this trilogy - i think he plays 7 different characters. Five versions of Biff (1955 Biff, cocky 1985 Biff who knocks George on the head, Meek 1985 Biff who is cleaning the car at the end of BTTF1, rich 1985 Biff, and old Biff from 2015) and then Griff and Mad Dog as well.
And voiced four different Biff’s in Back To The Future The Game as well meek Biff, gangster Biff, mind controlled Biff and a version of Biff with a different grandmother
It's so funny in retrospect hearing how worried Tom was about getting fired. Not only did he have one of the strongest performances in the film, but he's gone down as arguably one of the greatest movie villains of all time.
Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy similarly thought they were being let go from WarGames when Martin Brest was replaced by John Badham (an issue that it still very contentious and difficult to discuss by all participants)
@@thetribalist6923 " Villain " is a tad strong. Maybe " antagonist " - slightly less harsh. Just like Maj. Frank Burns from MASH. Not a villain, but an antagonist who acts like a dimwit AND a punching bag.
@@DanielAppleton-lr9eq he was going to rape Marty McFly’s mom. That’s a pretty strong villain in my opinion. I get what you mean though. If he were just a bully, I think your description would be more apt. Don’t forget another timeline when he murders George, and if we’re including every character that Tom played, then he also murdered Marty’s other family members in the old west, and would have murdered Doc.
The sign of good actors, if they can convincingly play a total jerk, when they're actually not. It's probably only human nature to dislike them, though, until you see or hear them in an interview.
@@stanknugget Gasp, are you airing your dirty laundry that you don't like Tom airing his dirty laundry? What's the scoop? You just aired your dirty laundry on a much smaller scale for the entire internet to see. OOOoooo.
He does tons of voice acting. One of which I know for sure is a few characters in SpongeBob one of them being the Strangler that SpongeBob mistakes for his bodyguard 😂
I think what is mad about Tom Wilson in the trilogy is he really squeezes something fresh out of every version of Biff. The iconic one for the BTTF1 is a meathead but you can tell he is an insecure bully. Then for BTTF2 in the alternative reality , you can tell he is way more confident in who he is because of the wealth. The old version in BTTF2 has a bitter edge that he plays perfectly (The film also did a great job with his size on camera with this one, because you can barely believe it's the same actor's body). Mad Dog from 3 obviously plays a bit with an accent and has a criminal/murderous edge, then Gryff from 2 is way more psychotic. It would have been so easy for Wilson to phone it in with the smaller parts but he didn't, he threw everything into the roles.
From what it sounds like, he immersed himself in a dramatic role when everybody wanted a light hearted, comedic role. Seems he showed up on set determined to play a type of character and wasn’t going to break from that. Getting fired is going to happen if you can’t be flexible.
@@iambiggus Eric mentioned in 1994 (for the L.A. Times) that he could have played the part as required had Zemeckis given him the heads up that he was acting in a comedy as opposed to an adventure with the occasional funny line.
@@spider-keithasmr38 I thought about that but a woman who worked for Amblin had posted a believable comment on the Hollywood Reporter site ten years ago. She claimed that Spielberg told Zemeckis to not give Eric any direction so that the studio's higher ups would be convinced that he was miscast when they saw a rough cut. I believe her because one of the things that she had said had foreshadowed something that was written in the 2015 visual history book. She claimed that the reason why they didn't fire Eric straight away was because so much money would have been spent a month later that it would be difficult for the studio to cancel the entire project.
Funny how Thomas and Michael J. Fox, when they really did reach their late 40s, actually looked much younger than they were made to look in the 2nd movie.
Dude all of those movies made ppl look hella old! Helen Hunt looks old in Mad About You vs Pay it Forward 20 yrs later where she is hot! Sandra Bullock in Speed then The Proposal. There's countless examples. The 80's. Am I right!?! Lol
Any movies that do the "aging the characters" thing go ridiculously overboard with the bad wrinkles makeup job. They don't even look like themselves in the fake aged makeup. They make an "aged 40-something" look like they're 78. In reality many people age pretty decently and definitely still look like themselves 20 years later.
Tom Cruise was just as bad during the making of Top Gun. Someone on Yahoo had typed the following in a comment section: "I was on the USS Enterprise when Top Gun was filmed. Word quickly got around (as it does on every US Naval ship) that Cruise was a snob. He flat out refused to speak to any of the enlisted men; he would only be addressed by officers. " "Accordingly, he refused to eat with the enlisted men on the mess deck. He would only eat with the officers in the Ward Room. Fair enough. One day a Warrant Officer (a commissioned officer who came up through the ranks as an enlisted man) walked in and saw Cruise eating there wearing a tank top. He promptly told him to get the ---- out. "I don't want to eat my dinner staring at your armpits." Cruise got up and left."
@@makeitsonumberone1358 Definitely. I came across an interview with Eric where he was talking about a film called The Waterdance. He said: "I was sixteen and a friend was injured in a car accident and I'm afraid I may have reacted poorly to his new condition. But, after meeting many of the patients at the hospital where we filmed the movie, and of course after playing the part, I feel no discomfort about approaching and talking with a person in a wheelchair."
The chemistry of Lloyd and Fox was brilliant, but the performances from Wilson really top off a great trilogy. Plus he's the only one who really has to play very differing parts, - with young Biff, Old Biff, 80s Biff, alternate 80s Biff, Griff and Beaufort Tannen - and he does it superbly, with the right amount of ham for a cartoon bad guy.
If you ever hear him talk about it, he was having the time of his life, especially on 3. He got to pal around with a lot of really classic character actors, and learn skills from veteran Hollywood trainers, and apparently he was just lapping everything up.
Talking about how Stoltz kept jamming his heels into his collarbone got me to thinking about Burt Reynolds talking about "The Longest Yard". He said during the scenes where they were actually playing football and tackling, Ray Nitschke, long time great LB for the Green Bay Packers, kept just hitting him like he was in a real game and trying to take him out.... So he said to him, "Hey, Ray, take it easy, it's just a movie." And he said Ray Nitschke looked at him, didn't even crack a grin, and said, "Not to me, Candyass."
I worked with him 2 years ago on an episode of LEGENDS OF TOMORROW. He looked familiar, but obviously older. Once I heard his voice I realized he played BIFF on BACK TO THE FUTURE. Great guy on set.
Hands down the best actor in the entire trilogy. Every version of the antagonist he plays is believable and unique. It never gets old watching any of his roles in BTTF.
@@coolnamebroimo I always hated Crispin Glover in BTTF. Just the way he acts in the movie is so cringe and unbelievable. I know that is kinda how the character is suppose to be. But it always distracted me while watching.
Well, tone is all important to a film. There's a whimsical nature to the BTTF trilogy. Stoltz was approaching it almost too sombre, too serious. His comedic timing wasn't as charming or as natural as Fox's. It is hard for me to personally see Stoltz in the three movies we have today.
"....Everybody call me Marty, except Leah who's playing my mom who I'm trying to make out with off camera...." Well, Eric got his wish two years later in "Some Kind of Wonderful."
Man I’d just love to have a beer with Tom Wilson, he seems just cool and a friendly dude with great stories. Incredible acting as well. Not only did his characters have the largest time span, from 1885 to 2015, his characters also range from a high schooler to an old man, and everything in between.
What is so awesome is that Tom can play such a great bad guy while being one of the nicest guys in Hollywood. I have looked around the web and can't find a story where anyone dislikes the guy. THAT is a near impossible thing in acting, a genuine nice person.
Wilson said in interviews that he was a much smaller, band geek, and president of the debate team in high school, and was actually bullied by others. He channeled his HS antagonists in his role as Biff.
I met stoltz in Dublin Ireland circa 1997-8 it was lunch time and we were both eating - i looked over and said your a good actor - he replied - “I know” Needless to say my eyes rolled
I really liked this interview. It was an honest, no holds barred, frank discussion of what was going on from Tom's point of view and what he observed on and off the set.
It`s possible, I just think the way Stoltz was fired as soon they needed a bigger budget and reshooting and able to get Fox was sleazy. Then again, he got responsability too.
Freaks and Geeks was on the year i graduated (2000) and its such an underrated show....so many known actors in that show.....it shouldnt have been cancelled after one season...all 18 episodes are great....
Freaks and Geeks was awesome. I could totally relate to Lindsay. I felt like they based her character on my junior high years. I had no idea Tom was the gym teacher. Now I'll have to try and catch an episode somewhere. I just can't see it, but it's been a long time since I've watched any episodes. Edit: You're right. Just watched this clip about 'The Prank Call'. It's comedy gold. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7_HJ67QYrjQ.html
he was great in that. it was an unexpected role for him as i thought he was going to play another asshole but it turned out he's playing a real nice and sympathetic guy.
My GF and I went on our first date to see Tom at a comedy club called The Funny Bone in Hartford, CT. Great show, and we met him afterwords, great guy as well
Ironically Eric got his piece of Thomas F Wilson in the diner scene and school cafeteria, but Tom sadly didn't get his piece of Eric Stoltz afterwards, lol. No wonder he chews him out here so badly!
I never liked the whole Producers/Stoltz issue (I think the producers are wankers, mostly) but if there is someone with a credible beef is Tom here. Fair game.
@@MisterWhat To be fair, Eric was hard on Tom because Tom got a bit too rough with Crispin during the audition stage. Eric and Crispin were already friends since they had attended the same drama class (they even acted in an aspirin commercial where they played brothers).
His performances in the trilogy was phenomenal. What a great human being too. I would say Darth Vader and Biff Tannen are the two best villains of all time. Hands down.
Andrew Gold they said in a documentary that the would eventually release Eric stoltz scenes someday he didn’t say when but I think they will release it on either July 3rd 2025 or July 3rd 2035
Thomas F. Wilson was cast as Biff Tannen because the producers felt that the original choice, J. J. Cohen, wasn't physically imposing enough to bully Stoltz. Cohen was recast as Skinhead, one of Biff's cohorts. Had Fox been cast from the beginning, Cohen probably would have won the part because he was sufficiently taller than Fox.
Tom is a great guy. Every interview I have seen him in has been very cool. I just wish they would give him more roles. He is much better than they give him credit for. Thanks for fun Tom!
I can’t imagine anyone doing a better job playing Biff than Tom Wilson did. And Michael J. Fox was perfect as Marty McFly. BTTF was the first movie my new GF (now wife of 36+ years) saw together, back in 1986. It holds a very special place in our hearts. I wonder if TW ever got to do the scene where he yanks Marty out of the car with Stoltz? That would be an outtake worth seeing!
