Steven Spielberg Almost Cast ‘Back to the Future’ With Devo Frontman Mark Mothersbaugh as Doc Brown | Video

While at the Sundance Film Festival promoting the fantastic new documentary “Devo” (from “Tiger King” and “American Movie” director Chris Smith), founding Devo member Mark Mothersbaugh told TheWrap a truly bonkers story about nearly getting cast in Robert Zemeckis’ classic “Back to the Future.”

How we landed on “Back to the Future” in the first place is there is a moment in the documentary where a clip from the Steven Spielberg-produced film is played. In the sequence where Doc (Christopher Lloyd) and Marty (Michael J. Fox) are about to test the time machine in the mall parking lot, Marty looks at Doc’s contamination suit and asks, “What is this, Devo?” It’s a moment very easy to miss, even if you’ve seen the movie a thousand times, but bringing it up gave Motherbaugh the runway to tell the story of a fascinating what-if.