‘The Office’ Star Melora Hardin Opens Up How She Burst Into Tears After Being Fired from ‘Back to the Future’ Role

Melora Hardin, best known for her role as Jan Levinson on NBC’s “The Office,” recently opened up to Entertainment Weekly about a tough moment early in her career. She revealed that she “burst into tears” when she was fired from Robert Zemeckis’ classic film “Back to the Future.”

Hardin had been cast as Jennifer Parker, Marty McFly’s girlfriend. However, after six weeks of filming with original Marty actor Eric Stoltz, the studio replaced Stoltz with Michael J. Fox. Hardin explained that this recasting led to her being let go as well.

“Back to the Future was a huge disappointment. I was 17, you know. I burst into tears,” Hardin said. She added that the firing came after studio executives decided she was too tall to appear opposite Fox.

“It was apparently the two female executives at the time that thought that it was emasculating for their lead male character to be in scenes with a woman that was taller than him. If I had done it, I’m sure it would have all gone in a different way. I wouldn’t have done ‘The Office.’”

Hardin reflected on the role failure played in her career. “To be where I am, you have to have failed more than you’ve succeeded. I think people don’t realize that when they look at it from the outside — you have to really be somebody who’s comfortable with failure, and with putting yourself on the line all the time. That failure doesn’t mean anything about you. You just have to fail better, and keep failing better … to be able to really weather this career choice.”

Eric Stoltz, who was replaced by Fox, and Fox himself have also reflected on the infamous recasting.

In his memoir, “Future Boy,” Fox described reaching out to Stoltz 40 years after the swap. Stoltz replied with humor and grace. Fox recalled their first meeting, writing that they “immediately fell into an easy dialogue about our careers, families, and yes, our own trips through the space-time continuum.”

He added, “What transpired on ‘Back to the Future’ had not made us enemies or fated rivals; we were just two dedicated actors who had poured equal amounts of energy into the same role.”

Hardin’s story is a reminder of the unpredictable nature of Hollywood, even for roles in films that go on to become iconic.

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