As scientist Emmett "Doc" Brown, Christopher Lloyd has been to the future and back.
Yet Lloyd did not foresee the generation-spanning ripple effect director Robert Zemeckis' Back to the Future would have on audiences. In fact, Lloyd was not sure exactly what he was getting into before slipping on the lab coat.
"The first reading I had was the draft of the one we shot. It took me a while to really understand what was going on and how I would fit into it," Lloyd said during a Feb. 15 phone interview. "I had no anticipation it would have the long success it has. Maybe others could see further into the crystal ball."
Lloyd will appear Saturday at the State Theatre in Easton for a screening of the film, which will be followed by a question-and-answer session with the veteran character actor.
"I love sitting in the audience and hearing and feeling their involvement with it. They get totally wrapped up in it," he said. "It's wonderful."
Back to the Future was released on July 3, 1985 and grossed more than $11 million domestically during its opening weekend, according to IMDB.com. The film went on to earn more than $197 million in the United States and spawned two successful sequels: Back to the Future Part II and Back to the Future Part III.
Christopher Lloyd. (Courtesy Photo)
The documentary Back in Time was released in October 2015 to coincide with the film's 30th anniversary. Lloyd revived the character that month for a televised reunion with co-star Michael J. Fox on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
"For me, I was just hoping it would have a good opening and a festival run. It exceeded most people's expectations, totally," he said. "I still get a feeling it has the same momentum it did in 1985. It keeps rolling."
While the animated and bewildered "Doc" Brown, for some, remains Lloyd's career-defining performance, the Connecticut native has brought to life a handful of equally memorable characters: from Taxi's Reverend Jim Ignatowski to the villainous Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Clue's Professor Plum.
But it's Uncle Fester from The Addams Family Lloyd said is the role he holds closest his heart. He recalled the joy he felt as a little boy reading the original "Addams Family" cartoon series.
"I would open (the magazine) and hope one would be about Uncle Fester," he said. "I just really love that character. There was something mischievous and slightly evil about him. Decades later, I get a call and an offer to do Uncle Fester in a movie and it blew me away."
Lloyd admitted he had some, albeit brief, trepidation about portraying the character due to his lankier build -- a stark contrast to the portly shape of Fester Addams. To get the right look, Lloyd sat in a hair and makeup trailer for two-to-three hours a day, according to a 2013 Buzzfeed interview.
"At first I thought this will never work, because I'm tall and thin. I'm not Uncle Fester by any means," Lloyd said. "So I didn't know how it was quite going to work. But we all collaborated and found a way that was distinctive for me."
At age 78, Lloyd is not ready to slow down just yet. He has six projects in various stages of development, each of which is slated for release this year.
Lloyd said, if given the part, he would jump at the chance to portray literary character Don Quixote in "Man of La Mancha."
"I like to work. I love doing what I do," he said. "It doesn't have to be a perfect situation to accept an offer."