I grew up on Back to the Future. Now, I didn’t see it in theaters when it first came out, seeing as how I was still a few months shy of my third birthday, but as soon as I was old enough to understand the absolute brilliance of the series, I became a lifelong fan. If you aren’t a fan, then you’re just not doing it right. Luckily, Telltale Games managed to get a fan of Back to the Future to provide the voice of Marty McFly in their episodic game series of the same name (by same name, I of course am referring to Back to the Future, not Marty McFly).
I got a chance to talk with AJ LoCascio, voice of Marty McFly in Telltale Games’ Back to the Future episodic series, and ask him some questions about the role, and the series in general.
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MR: Hi, this is Chris with Marooners’ Rock. We’re here with AJ LoCascio (terribly mispronounced).
AJ: LoCascio.
MR: LoCascio (correctly pronounced), sorry about that. We’re here with AJ LoCascio, and he is the voice of Marty McFly in Telltale’s Back to the Future series. Hi.
AJ: Hi.
MR: We have a few questions for you, if you don’t mind.
AJ: I’ve got a few answers.
MR: Were you a fan of Back to the Future before this all came up?
AJ: Yeah, I was a huge fan. I had the orange bubble vest, and I learned to play guitar because of the Johnny B. Goode scene, so…yeah, it’s one of my favorite movies of all time, and I’m not just saying that, I really mean it. It’s why I auditioned for the part.
MR: Anyone who doesn’t love Back to the Future…well, there’s something wrong with you. So…love Back to the Future. AJ loves Back to the Future…
AJ: And Ghostbusters.
MR: And Ghostbusters. Now, how did you feel when you were finally offered the part?
AJ: Um, all sorts of things. First I was excited, and I thought I was going to throw up. Then I was nervous, and I thought I was going to throw up. And then I thought I was going to throw up.
MR: A lot of gastrointestinal reactions?
AJ: Yeah, a lot of gastrointestinal confusion. No, I was ecstatic. I flipped out. And it was just me in my crappy apartment flipping out. “I don’t know what to do with myself!” It was nuts, it was crazy, and it’s still crazy. I can’t believe that I’ve gotten this part, it’s mindblowing.
MR: How did you approach the voice acting? Did you try anything different? Did you try to do anything like Michael J. Fox?
AJ: Well, my philosophy is basically to make myself sound as close to Michael J. Fox as possible. I’m sure it strays here and there, because after you do like a thousand lines in a day you get kind of exhausted, but my thing was keeping it as Michael J. Fox as possible.
MR: What did you do to prepare for the part? Did you stand in front of a mirror and practice over and over, or…
AJ: I’ve been preparing this my whole life. It’s like, I’ve been doing his voice since I was a kid…Actually, before I did the first episode, I tried watching the movie and I couldn’t do it. I was like I couldn’t live up to this, I can’t watch this right now. It made me super, super nervous and I wound up just…I know the movie so well, and his voice has been implanted in my head so deeply, it was just a matter of turning it on.
MR: Did you get to meet Christopher Lloyd of Michael J. Fox at all?
AJ: I didn’t get to meet Michael J. Fox yet, we’ll see if that actually happens. I met Christopher Lloyd plenty of times, though. I shared a bowl of edamame with him last week…I can’t believe I’m saying that…He happened to be finishing his last recording session, and I was just coming in. We had lunch, and it was just very weird.
MR: That’s kind of cool to be able to say, “I shared a bowl of edamame with Christopher Lloyd.” I mean, who gets to say that?
AJ: Yeah, not many. Funny thing is, I was nervous…”I hope that’s not HIS edamame. If I take that edamame will he be upset?” It kind of became a reoccurring joke between me and Julian, the sound guy. He’d always say, “AJ, don’t take Christopher Lloyd’s edamame!” I’d be like, “I didn’t know!” But thankfully, it was for both of us.
MR: Do you know if there’s going to be another series after the fifth episode? Will they be doing a second season?
AJ: I think so. I’d really love to do another one. The way it ends is like classic Back to the Future. There’s clearly more to be said, so I don’t know. I think so.
MR: Do you like the direction the games are heading? Are there any other directions you’d like to take the games in?
AJ: As far as where the game’s going, I like where it’s gone. It’s tough, because the movies are so complete. Marty goes on and lives a normal life. But, the game kind of takes it in another direction where you say, all right, this is very plausible, this is very satisfying, I like where this is going. I don’t know if I’d change anything…maybe have…more Marty.
MR: That would be a good, unbiased opinion. More Marty is just a good opinion.
AJ: Yeah, more Marty, why not. I’d love more Michael J. Fox…Not too much more, of course, because then I’d be out of a job. But you know what, honestly, if he was like, “I’m replacing you”, I’d be cool.
MR: Do you have anything you want to tell the viewers?
AJ: No, I don’t know…I got nothing. Don’t buy drugs. Become famous and they give them to you for free! Sorry, that’s a quote from Love, Actually. Buy the game, it’s great…That sounded really insincere.
MR: No, the game’s great, buy it. Well, thank you for your time!
