When Jessica Nixon learned that Michael J. Fox was going to be a celebrity guest at this year’s FanX Salt Lake Comic and Pop Culture Convention, she screamed.
It was loud enough that her dad heard through the wall of their home in Ogden — as did the person he was on the phone with.
But that’s just a fraction of the excitement Nixon showed while standing in a long and expensive line for photo-ops with Fox and other cast members from “Back to the Future,” including Christopher Lloyd, Tom Wilson and James Tolkan.
In total, Nixon estimates she spent around $1,000 on her “Back to the Future” fandom at FanX — including $500 for the cast photo, one with Fox for $225 and a picture with Lloyd and the DeLorean for $250. She paid it off in installments throughout the year.
“My dad first showed me ‘Back to the Future’ when I was 10, so it’s really his fault,” she said with a laugh.
But at FanX, there was no judgment. Nixon, 29, was surrounded by like-minded fans who also didn’t hesitate to fork up anywhere from a few hundred dollars to thousands to interact with the cast of “Back to the Future.” The “BTTF” photo-ops were by far the priciest opportunities at FanX — for reference, a photo op with James and Oliver Phelps, who play the Weasley twins in the “Harry Potter” series, was $140.
All of the fans the Deseret News spoke with said their love for Fox started with either his breakout role in the TV show “Family Ties,” or “Back to the Future.” They all praised Fox as an actor, for his charisma and energy. They praised him as a person — especially for the resiliency and grace he has shown as he’s navigated a life with Parkinson’s disease for more than 30 years. They all spent anywhere from $600 to well over $1,000 on “Back to the Future” fandom at FanX. And none of them showed any signs of buyer’s remorse.
“To me it feels like a once in a lifetime chance,” Nixon said. “And for him (Fox) to be able to especially come to Utah of all places, it’s like, I have to go. He’s my childhood hero. This is something I’ve been waiting for my whole life.”
Discovering ‘Back to the Future’
Nixon was one of several fans donning their best Marty McFly look last Friday at the Salt Palace Convention Center — a black and white checkered top under a denim jacket topped off with a bright red puffer vest.
Neela Simon, 17, nailed every little detail down to the white leather Nike Bruin shoes with the red swoosh. She also proudly showed off her “original 1985 ‘Back to the Future’ Valterra skateboard.” The teen from Park City was eager for the “BTTF” cast to sign it.
Simon’s love for Fox is about two years strong. Although her father had long tried to share his love of ’80s movies with her, Simon wasn’t interested. It wasn’t until she watched “Ghostbusters” that she saw “Back to the Future” in the “you may also like” pool and decided to give it a try.
“That was one of the best movies I’ve ever seen in my life,” she said. “Michael, he’s just such a great actor, he’s an amazing actor, everything he does. I heard he’s an awesome guy to meet.”
Simon estimated that her parents spent around $2,000 for her to attend FanX and embrace her full “Back to the Future” fandom — the best birthday gift she could’ve asked for.
“I told my parents, ‘Nothing else. Don’t even try and get me a car,’” she joked.
Nixon’s own fandom is approaching two decades.
“Back to the Future” was about 20 years old when she saw the film for the first time with her father — and she was hooked. She started drawing DeLorean time machines in her church programs.
“I had the biggest crush on him (Fox), but then when I learned that he was old enough to be my dad, I was kind of disappointed,” she said with a laugh.
At the time, Nixon had been saving up for a Barbie Dreamhouse. But she was so moved by “Back to the Future” and Fox’s story that she decided to put her $44 toward something else: The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.
“I felt like he needed it more,” she said.
A multigenerational fandom
Following in her father’s footsteps, Nixon is now spreading the love of Fox and “Back to the Future” to a younger generation. She teaches at a day care and has gotten the kids excited with “BTTF” Funko Pops. She even brought one of the kids with her to FanX.
But one of the youngest fans in attendance was 9-month-old Miles Hemsley. Thanks to his parents, who traveled from Idaho and spent about $1,200 on “Back to the Future” autographs and photo-ops at FanX, Miles’ fandom is off to a strong start.
As he stood in line holding his son — whose Marty McFly outfit rivaled the best of them — Justin Hemsley recalled how “Back to the Future” sparked an interest in what has now become a career as a visual effects artist.
“I was always a movie buff as a kid,” he said. “I grew up on ‘Back to the Future’ and ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘Star Wars,’ all the good stuff. And ‘Back to the Future’ definitely cut my imagination as far as science fiction, time travel, those kinds of things.”
For his wife, Suzi Hemsley, Fox was one of her first celebrity crushes, and it started with “Family Ties.”
“I always thought he was so funny and so charismatic,” she said.
But beyond that, Hemsley said she admires how Fox has “carried through with so much grace over the years” as he’s become the public face of Parkinson’s.
“He’s an incredible person. It’s cool that he’s an actor, yes, but he’s just an incredible person,” she said. “And so to get to see him in real life is … just a cool experience.”
Meeting a ‘childhood hero’
Vanessa Slack and her family had just taken a photo with the “Back to the Future” cast, and Slack could barely contain her excitement.
Holding the photo tightly with two hands, she let out a squeal and did a little dance as she exited the line. And then she and her husband, Brent, rushed over with their two kids to another table to get a picture in the DeLorean.
The family from Draper estimates they spent around $1,000 on “Back to the Future” at FanX.
Slack was around 9 — now the age of one of her daughters — when she developed a crush on Fox after watching “Back to the Future.” Her husband was 5 years old when he saw the film for the first time. And of course their kids have seen it, too.
While waiting for their own moment to meet the “Back to the Future cast,” the Hemsleys couldn’t stop looking at a photo of Justin and Miles sitting in the DeLorean with their matching Marty McFly outfits. It’s an image that will likely be getting a framed spot in their home.
“It made my day. It made my life,” Justin Hemsley said with a big smile. “I’ve been waiting 30 years to do that.”