Marty McFly is an iconic character in the sci-fi scene, but the face we all know and love today may have been a different one, as Michael J. Fox initially wasn't available for the filming due to conflicting schedule, so the role was given to Eric Stoltz. Sid Sheinberg, head of Universal, even supported this casting. Despite filming most of his scenes, Stoltz was deemed to be too dramatic and lacking the humorous flair imagined for the role, so Fox was contacted again and the scheduling conflict was worked out. Zemeckis took it upon himself to inform Stoltz of the decision and later said it was “the hardest meeting I've ever had in my life and it was all my fault. I broke his heart."