When I filmed the “Johnny B. Goode” scene, I was lucky enough to have a great teacher who taught me how to play the guitar. I told Bob (Zemeckis, the director), “When I do this scene, I’ll actually play the guitar so you can sync the visuals with the finger movements. Feel free to cut to the hands whenever you want.” Having said that, I immediately felt the pressure to make it incredibly good. So, I turned to Paul Hanson, my guitar teacher.
I worked on that piece for about a month, and in the meantime, I worked with a coach who was Madonna’s choreographer. I told him, “I dance like a duck. I can’t dance. But what I’d like to do is bring together all the traits, mannerisms, and quirks of my favorite guitarists — Pete Townshend’s windmill, Jimi Hendrix’s guitar behind the back, and Chuck Berry’s duck walk.” We worked on all of that and put it together. Those are the moments when you can’t think, “I’m tired” or “I feel the pressure to get it right.” You just do it and have fun!
Michael J. Fox
(Tom: This is what a truly great professional does behind/before every performance or action. Imagine what the world would be like if we all did that before everything we do.)