Random thought: Would Crispin Glover have played Seamus if he'd stuck around?

edited February 2011 in Back to the Future
Of course, MJF probably gave his best alternate McFly performance there, but I'm just wondering. Lea Thompson played one of the ancestors (...which is O_o worthy looking back--unintentionally incestuous that George's ancestor is identical to his wife--,but it was the 80s...), so would Crispin have as well?

Comments

  • edited November 2010
    I know in an early script Seamus (in addition to having an even more minor part) was described as looking identical to "either George or Marty", so I guess they would have gone with Glover if he'd decided to stick around.

    To the comment about Lea Thompson, I think they handwaved it by saying that the McFly men are all attracted to the same kind of women. The fact that Jennifer (when played by both actresses!) looks a bit like Lea too helps. xD
  • edited November 2010
    Something has been bugging me all this time... seems like this is the appropriate thread to ask...

    Why did Glover leave the team? I mean, does anyone know the real reasons?

    In the making of, it is said that he "wanted things that were too much for a young actor to ask"...but that's it. What happened?

    And, moreover, did he have such a huge fight that he isn't even invited to the reunion? (at least, I didn't see him in any pictures).
  • VainamoinenVainamoinen Moderator
    edited November 2010
    In the making of, it is said that he "wanted things that were too much for a young actor to ask"...but that's it. What happened?

    And, moreover, did he have such a huge fight that he isn't even invited to the reunion? (at least, I didn't see him in any pictures).

    Gale states that Glover asked far too much money,while Glover states that he was offered far less:
    "On the DVD to the Back to the Future trilogy, Bob Gale has said something that's totally fabricated," Glover told a group of reporters at this weekend's press junket for Hot Tub Time Machine. "He said I asked for twice the amount of money that Michael J. Fox asked for in the first film. In the negotiation for the second film, they offered me less than half of what any of the actors that were being asked to come back in the film—Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson and Tom Wilson. They had all done studio films, and they'd made a lot more money. I was being penalized."

    Obviously, Glover and Gale aren't on friendly terms, but Crispin seems to have made peace with Robert Zemeckis, acting in his ill-fated "Beowulf". No one knows the truth in this matter, but here are some things that I previously wrote in this forum, things to think about:
    • Has Bob Gale a reason to lie in this matter? I don't really think so.
    • In an early script for BTTF II, before any of the actors were even contacted, George's role was also marginalized (about 30 seconds of screen time). Gale really, really seemed to WANT Glover out.
    • What made the Bobs think that they could just use Glover's likeness in BTTF II without even asking him?
  • edited November 2010
    I liked Beowulf. I saw it in IMAX 3D and the CGI tech for recreating actor's faces seems to be advancing. The Angelina Jolie model was really impressive.
  • edited November 2010
    What made the Bobs think that they could just use Glover's likeness in BTTF II without even asking him?

    Basically, it was the fact that the "likeness" clauses weren't standard in SAG collective bargaining agreements of the eighties. The whole rigmarole between Glover and the BttF team is what resulted in the creation of those clauses.

    As to Seamus, my understanding was that if Glover had come back, he would have been given that role as well as George. When Glover didn't return and Fox showed that he could play multiple characters well with the technology developed for BttF 2, they made the obvious choice of giving him Seamus.
  • edited November 2010
    In an early script for BTTF II, before any of the actors were even contacted, George's role was also marginalized (about 30 seconds of screen time).

    It's possible that the Bobs still didn't quite know how to use him best. After all, his character arc in Part One is pretty complete.
  • edited November 2010
    ^
    I think the only difference would be that he wouldn't be so far in the background in that particular scene and in the future he wouldn't be held upside down.
  • VainamoinenVainamoinen Moderator
    edited November 2010
    doggans wrote: »
    It's possible that the Bobs still didn't quite know how to use him best. After all, his character arc in Part One is pretty complete.

    So was Lorraine's - but her role in the alternative script was pretty big. George, on the other hand, suddenly turns up towards the ending, throws a punch at Biff and Marty's off into the sunset. That definitly sounds like "We have to get him in, but we really don't want to". ;)
  • edited November 2010
    Crispin's separation from the film was more or less a known issue when they were writing the later drafts of the script for BTTF 2. That's probably why he doesn't have much of a role, and it's also why, for his biggest scene in 2015, he's hanging upside down.

    I believe in the commentary they joked about how they wrote the scene that way so that if Crispin didn't return, the replacement would be less noticeable, and if he changed his mind and came back, at least they would get to hang him upside down :p

    So yeah, they weren't on the best terms either way.
  • edited November 2010
    I hated how much George's character was reduced in BTTF 2 and 3. Crispin Glover did a great job with it in BTTF 1. And if you really didn't want to keep him around you could have gotten another actor to do his role without making people think it was Crispin Glover. Claudia Wells didn't do 2 or 3 (cause of her mom) and it wasn't that big a deal that Elizabeth Shue replaced her.
  • I've heard that the crispin fall out was a main reason for the george mcfly murder plot but not sure how they could have done the 1985A with george still alive; they needed lorraine to be with biff to have the extra pressure on marty to fix the time line. And they'd have made lorraine into a bad person had she just left george for money.

    Would have been strange to have crispin play such a huge role in the first film, very little in the 2nd one and then a fairly important one in the 3rd film.

    I guess they would have given George more screen time in 2015 and lorraine less. It would have been interesting to see him play marty jr. but for plot reasons, he had to look exactly like MJF. I guess they could have given marty a second son and let Crispin play him.
  • edited February 2011
    The Crispin Glover thing with BTTF 2-3 was a huge disaster. Read up on it sometime.
  • edited February 2011
    wow, I did not know that. I looked at the BttF 2 end credits and it lists 1955 Crispin Glover "taken from footage from Back to the Future" as George McFly. In BttF3 it just lists the other actor as George.

    I always assumed it was Crispin Glover in 2015 and in BttF 3 until just now. I think though, I am on the side of his character arc being completed and his character a little unnecessary. But he was a HUGE character in the first and he was very likeable so it was always kind of a shame to not see more of him.
  • edited February 2011
    There was actually a huge lawsuit because they hired an actor to impostor Crispin Glover. Glover had a huge fight with the production. It's an interesting event to read about. They actually killed George IN part II because Glover was no longer involved. Otherwise the plot would have been really different.
  • There was actually a huge lawsuit because they hired an actor to impostor Crispin Glover. Glover had a huge fight with the production. It's an interesting event to read about. They actually killed George IN part II because Glover was no longer involved. Otherwise the plot would have been really different.

    Yeah I knew that, i'm just wondering how part II would have turned out with Crispin still there. I can't see how george would have fit in in 1985A. Plus at one time the plan was for biff to give himself the delorean in the 1960's instead of 1955 and we catch up with the parents as teenagers. So i'd imagine under that scenario, there would be the opportunity for more of george.

    I agree georges character comes full arc but so does lorraines and yet they found a new way to show her character in part II.
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