My name is Christopher Lloyd. AMA!

Great SCOTT! This is heavy! I’m a huge fan! Biggest question I want to know, and I’m sure what’s on everyone’s mind, is, what will you be doing at 4:29pm on Wednesday, October 21st, this year? Will you be with Michael? Do you and he keep in touch often? Thanks Doc!

We actually - I expect to see Michael later this summer, I'm excited to see him, working on another project. I don't see him that often. We live on opposite ends of the continent. I love him greatly, and I look forward to our next encounter.

I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing this far ahead. I know that the 22nd of October is my birthday, so I'll be preparing two birthdays - the 21st and the 22nd!

Hi Mr. Lloyd!

"Who Framed Roger Rabbit" is one of my favorite films. It must have been quite an experience to work on.

Do you have any memorable stories from making that movie?

Thanks for doing this AMA!

It was an extraordinary movie to make.

You know, we were talking, and holding, and fighting these cartoon figures that didn't exist in actuality. There was a gentleman who was the voiceover, who gave the voice of Roger Rabbit, and dressed himself up in a crazy fashion, and you'd see him for eyeline, Charlie Fleischer. It was very interesting, because we had to do a lot of work with imaginary cartoon characters.

How do you feel about the millions of nightmares you caused all those poor children?

Kidding! I bet filming Roger Rabbit was an interesting experience. How does that compare with actually working face-to-face with real actors? I imagine it would feel a bit awkward, and somehow "empty."

It was awkward in the sense that we had to make up the cartoon characters in our own minds, and try to relate to air, ha ha! As if there was actually someone there.

It took some practice, and focus, and concentration to do it. But we found a way of doing that.

Mr Lloyd, a huge fan, especially your portrayal of Jim in Taxi. The drivers license exam scene is still one of the best in sitcom history. Do you still stay in contact with any of the other cast members? Thanks again for your work! Edit: scene in question

Yes we do! We're like a little club. We quite often get together. Some of us live in New York, I was just recently in New York and got together with Tony Danza and Mary Lou Henner and Danny DeVito... and we run into each other, we make an effort to keep in contact. We had a lot of fun doing that show. And we did it for so many years, so many memories, so we love to get back together.

Speaking of Danny Devito, is there any chance we'll see you in a bigger role on Always Sunny?

Oh, I don't know! I haven't been asked. But certainly I'd love to do it. I really like Danny, and his talent, his humor. We've discussed that we might do a play together someday. So we'll see! We'll see...

Hi Christopher! I'm a big fan of yours. If I see your name on something it's always been an indicator to me that I'll enjoy whatever I'm about to watch. Clue is one of my all time favorite movies. So my question is: What is your favorite memory from working on Clue?

Well, generally it was a wonderful, wonderful cast. And very much an ensemble piece, because almost all of us were always in each scene. So we had to really work well together, and appreciate and respect each others' gifts. I felt very privileged to be a part of that film, and work with extraordinarily talented actors and actresses.

I loved the character I was playing. I loved being in the room with the other actors playing their characters, and it was a really exciting experience.

You were part of one of the best movies of my childhood. As a boy, I stayed nights awake remembering and watching over and over some of those scenes. The first movie and the sequels were a big inspiration for my life. How was working on Piranhas franchise?

Thanks for doing this AMA, I really, really love your work!

chuckles

I loved working on PIRANHA! It was a send-up of that genre, and I enjoyed being part of it!

When would you want to go if you were given a Delorean time machine?

Hmmm, where would I go...

Some of the very first concerts by composers like Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, etcetera...I am a classical music enthusiast, and I would be thrilled to hear the first playing of the Ninth Symphony, and other works.

Hi Mr. Lloyd! Thank you for playing one of the scariest villains I've ever seen in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and I loved you in A Dame to Kill For!

My girlfriend says the Back to the Future Trilogy is "okay," should I break up with her?

And what is your favorite color?

Red, blue, green and yellow.

And if someone doesn't like BACK TO THE FUTURE? They'd be in a small minority. Because people overwhelmingly like the film. But that's fine, if everybody has different likes.

Mr. Lloyd, First I would like to thank you for doing this AMA. I just wanted to tell you how big of a fan I really am. You are an icon from my childhood: ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’, ‘The Addams Family’, ‘Angels in the Outfield’, ‘The Page Master’, ‘Dennis the Menace’ and of course ‘Back to the Future’. The latter being one of my all-time favorites; I even dressed as Doc Brown for Halloween 3 years in a row. Whenever I see you pop up in a TV show I am watching I get all excited like I am a kid again and for a brief moment it takes me away of the monotony of my adult life. Thank you for being a part of my childhood and bringing myself and everyone else so much joy.

Since I must ask a question… It has been said you stayed in a mental institution to prepare for your role as Taber in ‘One Flew over the Cuckoos nest’ and modeled your character after a particular patient, is that true? If so, what was it about that patient that stuck out to you?

Well, I didn't model my character in CUCKOO'S NEST on any of the patients at the asylum where we shot the film. I took the ideas for the character I played from the novel, from Ken Kesey's novel. All the cast spent about 2 weeks at an asylum in Salem, Oregon, to get a feel of what that kind of institution was like to live in. We attended group therapy sessions with real patients, we were given passes to visit patients that we were becoming friends with, I know some of the patients (with permission) were used as extras in the course of the film. When McMurphy and the Indian and another actor, when they're taken into a ward for shock therapy, and the camera looks up to the corridor of the ward, all the people who were photographed in that corridor were actual patients. And in other scenes of the film, there were other actual patients that participated.

If you got into legal trouble would you trust your nephew Sam Lloyd, who plays Ted in Scrubs, to represent you?

As a lawyer?

Well, I would trust him, without a doubt. But I don't know how versed he is in law, Ha Ha Ha Ha!

But certainly I trust him.

What is your funniest memory from filming the Back to the Future films?

Haha!

Um, I guess all those fun moments - one of them was the dance in BACK TO THE FUTURE III, the night that we danced, with Mary Steenburgen who played Claire, the schoolteacher, and it was an all-night shoot, with a band with ZZ Top playing, it was a very, very merry time.

Everyone has seen the “What did Back to the Future: Part 2 got right about the year 2015” posts all over the internet. Were there any of the predictions from the film that you thought, at the time, would come true or maybe you thought were totally ludicrous?

Also, will you be attending any of the www.weregoingback.com event coming up this October?

Thank you for sharing all of your amazing characters with us! Have a great day.

Well, they seemed far-fetched. I mean, the hoverboard, the sneakers that self-tied, all the other things... it is amazing to see some of them actually coming into existence now. I don't think, when we were making the film, that we really believed any of them would.

They were fanciful, and enjoyable entertainment. But I don't think anyone thought they were going to become reality.

I know I'll be attending something. A lot of events scheduled for the BACK TO THE FUTURE series. I'm not sure which ones I'll be doing, or when they are, but I know there's a lot coming up before the end of the year.

Hello sir, thanks for doing this AMA! What would you say is the film you are most proud of?

The film I'm most proud of? Of course, BACK TO THE FUTURE, and many others, but the film that really answers that question is a film ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST.

And it was my first film, working with an extraordinary cast, a great director and a wonderful script... it was really meaningful to me, and kind of changed my life, and introduced me to film and all the work I've done on film or screen since, I credit that to my beginnings with ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST.

Hey Mr. Lloyd! I loved you as Uncle Fester in the Adams Family movies. Do you have any fond memories from making those movies?

Well, I grew up with it when I was a child, really. And the character was one of my very favorites. I'd always get the magazines. I'd love the cartoons, because they often featured Uncle Fester. So many years later, when I got a phone call, being offered the role for the movies, I was stunned. It was a real treat to play this character that i grew up on! And it was a wonderful company of actors, playing these weird characters. It was a great treat.

What was it like playing Kruge on Star Trek III: The Search For Spock?

Oh, it was a delight!

I love playing villains as absolutely villainous as Kruge. He had no compunction, destroying whole galaxies if he could get what he wanted, the power he wanted, the control he wanted of the universe.

So it's fun playing a character with no moral conscience. HA!

Of course we need a moral conscience in our lives. But you throw it all out, and get to be as nasty and exploitative as the moment requires. It was fun!

Hey Mr. Lloyd, I’m a huge, enormous fan. Thanks so much for doing this!

A while back I saw on your Wikipedia page that there was a Doc Brown spin-off set for 2018. It’s now gone from Wikipedia, but is there any word on that?

Also, do you have any interest in doing some sort of Doc Brown solo project? Because that’d be the greatest thing ever.

Thanks also for reprising the role so often, like for the TellTale video game and everything! You’re the greatest!

I'd be happy to play Doc under ANY circumstances. If I can be doing something original, and new, that'd be very exciting.

Hey Doc,

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is doing an AMA in like an hour. Do you have any fun memories of him from the set of Angels in the Outfield?

Yes. They're a bit dim, it's been quite awhile and I haven't seen the movie in some time. We did a movie together recently in a film called THE STING, I think? I may be off on that. But he does wonderful work. And I had a good time working with him.

I wish you were my fun uncle.
What does your ideal breakfast consist of?

Well, I like huevos rancheros.

The eggs, the jalapeños, the black beans...some bacon, a big glass of orange juice, and a double cappuccino.

So will you be purchasing a hoverboard on October 21st?

Hahaha!

I doubt it. Even if it's, uh, guaranteed to be safe or whatever. I probably won't be the first to buy it. I want to see how it goes, and how it works out.

Good day mister Lloyd! First off, I have to say that I am a big fan of yours. I just loved your performance in the Back to the Future trilogy. By far my all-time favorite movies! Partly due to your fantastic performance of dr. Emmett Brown :) I just loved it! Because of that performance I pursued a career in science. Oh and then that episode in Spin City where you and Michael J. Fox acted together again, brilliant! Oh my god, I have so many question for you. So how did you prepare for the role of dr. Emmett Brown? Which scientist did you use as an influence? (I could detect a hint of Einstein) How was working with Michael J. Fox? And are you still in contact with each other? This is more of a personal question, but what are your hobbies? Thanks again for being an inspiration for me! Kind regards.

Ha! I modeled myself on Einstein, and also a conductor who was very prominent some years ago, by the name of Leopold Stokowski, he was a very prominent conductor some years ago.

And working with Michael J. Fox was great. We had perfect and very natural chemistry together. When we'd get together to do a scene, we didn't have to think about the chemistry, it just existed when we got together. It was effortless. We had no problem with our relationship as Marty and Doc. Good casting.

What are my hobbies? I don't have many, really. I like to read. I like watering and watching plants grow. Oh... and I go to work out every day.

Great Scott! Which of the three films from the Back to the Future franchise is your favorite?

BACK TO THE FUTURE III.

There was horseback riding, which was a lot of fun. There was the steam engine, to be on, work on, which is quite an experience. And Doc had a romance! So all of that combined. It was a Western, which is always kind of fun.

But I loved all of 'em. But BACK TO THE FUTURE was great, BACK TO THE FUTURE II became kind of dark, and BACK TO THE FUTURE III opened up, and had a kind of excitement to it that I really enjoyed. They were all, I think, great movies. It's just that BACK TO THE FUTURE III was a great way to end, because it had so much excitement in it, being in the West, it was a lot of fun.

My flux capacitor doesn't seem to be working. What am I doing wrong?

Well, I don't know. You have to take it into a flux capacitor repair shop.

It's built to take anything - beer cans, old dried-up leaves, anything. So maybe too much has been put in at one time, and it choked on it.

But you'll have to go to a flux capacitor repair shop.

I can't diagnose it over the phone. I'd have to take it apart. It's a complicated thing, and one of the parts may be worn down, or maybe it's just simple lubrication...or the process in the flux capacitor to convert any materials into energy, something might be failing in that area.

Chris, thanks for doing this AMA.

You’ve been at this for many decades now. You’ve been in numerous cult films and your performances are so beloved. Is there any role or work that you want to do that you haven’t been able to do yet? Is there material that you’d like to see that isn’t being produced?

Well, with the roles you mentioned there, the many roles I've done, I've never known that any of them were going to be in my future until they actually HAPPENED. So at this point in time, I don't know what's coming up next! So I just want to see a script, see if the role I'm being offered is something I can make interesting and enjoyable and entertaining, and that's my criteria.

So I just keep on working. Sometimes it's a little project, sometimes it's not so little, but that's how I operate.

Camp nowhere 2...how close are we to seeing Mudd's kids at camp?

I have not heard a rumor about a sequel to CAMP NOWHERE. If they were to be using the same cast - all those kids in CAMP NOWHERE would be adults now, and that would be interesting. But I haven't heard that anybody's making that effort!

But they should be!

What the hell is a Gigawatt?!

HAHA! It's an actual metric of electrify. An actual amount of electricity.

Hi Christopher!

As you well know, today was a momentous day in American history.

If you were truly able to travel back in time, which other significant event(s) would you have liked to see?

If you were truly able to travel into the future, what significant event(s) would you most like to witness?

Oh, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, let's see...the end of the Civil War, the end of the first World War, the end of the second World War... hmm! The first flight by Charles Lindberg...the first astronaut to orbit the planet...there'd probably be some other events I'd like to see as well!

And I would like to travel far enough in the future - this may not be that far - to see how the effects of climate change have been resolved. I think that's going to be the next greatest issue.

What made you want to do the film Last Call?

I really liked the character. I thought it was a very good script. And the part I played was kind of an unstable, alcoholic Irishman who planned to keep his bar open, dealing with his two errant sons - I just liked the character. There's something I found very comical about him, as distressed as he got. I felt he was very human. he was somebody really striving to get things right, to keep his business flowing in spite of his sons and other circumstances. I just thought that he was a very human character, and I wanted to take a crack at it.

Hi Christopher Lloyd. Did you know Andy Kaufman well? And what memories do you have of him?

Thanks.

I knew him - I can't say I knew him well, when I became a part of TAXI, I got to know him to some extent. People often ask me "Was he really crazy, or nuts, or whatever" and I don't feel he was. I feel he had a very solid idea of the kind of comedy he wanted to present, with the characters, and the things that he did.

He had a very clear idea of what he wanted to do. And he worked very diligently, he worked very hard. He was a very sweet, very smart person, as I remember.

How did you get to your typical hair style?

My typical hairstyle?

Ha!

I'm not sure what that is. I know that what you're referring to is the BACK TO THE FUTURE look, which I try not to repeat, because I like people to see me in a new role and not be reminded of a role I've done before. So I've changed my hairstyle to suit the character.

For instance, in THE ADDAMS FAMILY, I shaved all my hair off.

So it just depends what I feel the character would look like, when I read the script. And I'll do whatever it takes to give me the look that works for that character.

Greetings Mr Lloyd, I was wondering if you had any advice for relationship troubles? If anyone has a level headed opinion on the matter its Doc.

Hahaha!

Um...I wish I was Doc.

Relationships are tough. And it takes a lot of patience, and tolerance, and understanding, and sensitivity. It's not easy. So I'd say a lot of patience. If you're really serious about someone, it's very much a mutual endeavor.

You have a pretty awesome accent in Last Call! Was it a difficult accent to nail down or just simply fun to do?

I went to a speech dialect coach to try to get the Irish accent as real as possible. I haven't seen the film yet, I saw a six-minute preview of it, but I hope it sounds authentic, with a real Irish feel to it. That was a big goal of mine, because I felt it was necessary.

What do you think is your most profound piece, and why is it Suburban Commando?

Oh, I loved working on that! It was kind of a strange story. But Hulk Hogan, it was quite interesting pairing of characters there. Hulk Hogan and myself. I had a lot of fun doing that film. I liked it.

Hi Christopher!

I would like to ask you what your wierdest fan expierence was?

I don't know. All the Comic-Cons, there are a lot of people who come up with various things to autograph, or things to say, and I'm not sure which one to pick!

What is your relationship to video games?

Just that I've been asked to participate in them. And BACK TO THE FUTURE has a video game, I believe I got that right. It's fun, you're just playing your character in circumstances and situations in the video game, just as it would for a movie. It's a lot of fun.

Did you enjoy working on the movie When Good Ghouls Go Bad? I grew up watching that movie, and you always helped bring the Halloween spirit into my house.

HAHA! That's great!

We shot that in Australia, SO many years ago. And I didn't know if it would make it to the theaters, or be seen anywhere. I'm thrilled that so many people come to me and speak about it. I haven't seen it myself, so I don't know if I'd like myself in it or not. But I'm delighted that people who have seen it have really taken to it.

Hello Mr. LLoyd! Very pleased to speak to you today!

Many fans love the BTTF classic one-liners "1.21 Gigawatts!?" or 'Great Scott!", but what's your favorite Doc Brown quote and why?

There are a few of them. The one that pops to mind is "ROADS? Where we're going, we don't NEED roads!"

Do you have any great Sandy Meisner stories? What would you consider the biggest lesson you learned while training under him?

Well, Sandy Meisner was an extraordinary man, an amazing teacher. And before him, I did some acting, and sometimes I would come to the theater at night, which is where I started (in the theater), and I would give a really (I would feel) great performance, and then sometimes I'd come to a theater at night, and then just feel like I didn't deliver - just wandering around the stage, not knowing what I was doing. And I felt I needed to learn a technique, to be consistent. So I studied with Sandy Meisner for about 2 years, and the way he presented the Method Technique made it so clear and so easy in a way - the certain steps you took onstage to make sure you were connecting with the other actors, with the spontaneity so it was fresh every night - he gave me all that, as he did to many, many students.

He was a great man. An amazing man.

Would you like to play in any of today's TV shows?

I don't know. I kind of just wait and see if something comes up in an offer, and if I take a look at it, like it, and think i can contribute, then I'm happy to be a part.

Was Camp Nowhere actually fun to film? because it looked like it was a blast on that set.

It was a LOT of fun to film.

It's funny, because it took me a while to get into it. And there was a scene where I get stuck in the cardoor and I get pulled through the car wash - I get soap sprayed on me - and I thought it was pretty silly, and I thought it was too much, that it wasn't funny.

And somebody said to me If Charlie Chaplin - Charlie Chaplin was one of my idols growing up - If Charlie Chaplin had that scene, he'd make it funny.

So I thought I'd do my best. And it worked out.

It was an INCREDIBLE group of young people in that film. And I really enjoyed filming it.

As a child did you want to be an actor or mad scientist?

I wasn't thinking about being a mad scientist. I knew, when I was 13 or 14, that I pretty much decided I wanted to be an actor.

What's your favorite scary movie?

Oh, my favorite scary movie? I know I have some...

PSYCHO was certainly one of the all-time scariest movies, when it first came out. And then there's the Frankenstein movies... Oh! THE SHINING, that was great. I know there are some others, but I can't think of them right now.

Moose juice or goose juice? (In Search of Dr. Seuss was my favorite movie as a child :))

I did that a long time ago. A long, long time ago. I believe we're thinking of the same thing!

Hahaha! I don't know.

Your characters over the years from Doc Brown to Uncle Fester (even Judge Doom is absolutely bonkers in the end) have all had a certain mania to them, but they all feel distinct and unique. I don't know if this is even answerable, but how have you been able to find so many unique ways to play these manic characters? Is there a process to figuring out the type of crazy you're going to play for any specific role or do you just read a script and intuitively have a good idea of how you want to play them? Oh, and thank you for doing this AMA. The roles I mentioned above form some of my favorite moving watching memories from my formative years.

Well, I get a script, and I read it, and I get impressions of the character as it's written in the script. And I start thinking about What does this person look like, what kind of clothes does he wear, does he have some kind of physical quirk or impediment of some kind, what is the important thing for this character to accomplish in the story - I put all that stuff together, and something emerges, and hopefully it works!

If you could play any Lord of the Rings character, who would it be and why?

Gee, you know, I feel embarrassed. I watched them but I don't know the names of the characters. Maybe one of the wizards?