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Madonna's choreographer helped Michael J Fox perfect 'Back To The Future’s' iconic Johnny B Goode scene

Marty McFly perfectly plays Johnny B Goode for an unappreciative audience (Image by Universal Pictures)
Marty McFly perfectly plays Johnny B Goode for an unappreciative audience (Image by Universal Pictures)

Back To The Future is packed to the brim with memorable scenes.

But arguably the most iconic sequence of the entire movie comes towards the end, when Michael J Fox’s Marty McFly takes it upon himself to blast out Chuck Berry’s Johnny B. Goode for his unsuspecting high school audience.

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During a recent interview with Empire Magazine, Fox opened up about preparing for and filming the scene, revealing that he had to get a guitar teacher to teach him how to play the legendary song.

“I said to [director] Bob [Zemeckis], ‘When I do this scene, I play guitar, so you can finger sync me. Feel free to cut to my hands any time you want.’ Having said that, it put pressure on me to get it f****** right. So I had this guy named Paul Hanson, who was my guitar teacher.”

Musician Huey Lewis (L) and actors Michael J. Fox (2nd L) Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson (R) attend the Back to the Future 30th Anniversary screening in the Manhattan borough of New York, October 21, 2015. The film franchise is celebrating today's date as in the first sequel, the main characters traveled through time to October 21, 2015. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly  TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Fox didn’t just work with a guitar teacher, though. He also collaborated with a choreographer who had previously worked alongside Madonna.

“I said, ‘I dance like a duck. I can’t dance. But what I’d like to do is incorporate all the characteristics and mannerisms and quirks of my favourite guitarists, so a Pete Townshend windmill, and Jimi Hendrix behind the back, and a Chuck Berry duck walk.’ And we worked all that in.”

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“He made it flow. It was moments like that when you don’t think, I’m tired or I feel pressure to do this. You just do it and have a blast.”

The cheograpier and guitar teacher clearly did their jobs to perfection, too, as Fox’s rendition of Johnny B. Goode is still rightfully regarded as one of the best musical performances in movie history. Even though the students at Hill Valley High School were less than impressed.