Christopher Lloyd talks about his big regret from Back to the Future 3

“I should have done it!” Name of Zeus! The interpreter of Doc Brown looks back on his great regret during the filming on horseback of the cult 1990 film.

“I regret never having invented this cursed time machine. It has only caused disasters…”

Doc Brown showed his remorse in Back to the Future 3. And today, it’s Christopher Lloyd who confesses to having a big regret regarding the filming of Robert Zemeckis’ cult film.

Only one regret, but one that still haunts him today. In his memoirs, In My Own Timejust published, the actor recounts how he almost performed a particularly perilous horseback stunt himself. And why he still regrets finally letting the stuntmen do it.

In this third part, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) are propelled into the Wild West of 1885. The actor had to ride a horse several times, but the most spectacular stunts, such as the final race with the steam train, the scene where Doc almost gets hanged or the exchange of gunfire, were entrusted to professionals. It was precisely during this famous train sequence that Lloyd was tempted to exceed safety instructions. He writes:

“There’s a sequence in Back to the Future 3 where Doc rides his horse and chases a speeding steam train. He hopes that this will once again allow Marty and the DeLorean to return to the present…“The scene required Doc to ride as close as possible to the last car, until he could grab a handful of it. But the instructions were clear: Lloyd was not to attempt to grab the handle or pull himself onto the train. He was simply to gallop alongside the car, then stop to let the stuntmen take over.

The actor accepted, aware that carrying out this stunt himself would have represented “too big a risk” for him as for the filming. But when it came time to take action, the temptation was great:

“When it came time to shoot the scene, I had no trouble riding to the train. He was right there. The train was going at a fantastic speed and I was so close that I could feel the whooooosh as it passed by me making the ground shake. I could catch it. And I said to myself: I can do it. It’s right there. I hesitated. I almost put the entire production in danger. But I didn’t do it, and it was really very limited!”

Looking back, the actor isn’t even sure the stunt could have gone off without a hitch. But the doubt remains, and it returns every time he watches the film again.

“Who knows what would have happened next? But every time I watch the movie and I see that scene again, I always feel this pang in my heart: I should have done it.”

Name of Zeus!

Enough to give a particular flavor to this cult sequence, even if Christopher Lloyd knows perfectly well why the professionals were responsible for producing it.

And despite this little regret, the actor retains a particular affection for this third episode, which he considers his favorite of the trilogy: