During development of Back to the Future, several actors were considered for the role, including John Lithgow. Jeff Goldblum auditioned for the part but lost out when Christopher Lloyd was cast as Emmett Brown. Devo co-founder Mark Mothersbaugh also recalled being approached by Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg for the role, but turned it down because he was not interested in acting. Producer Neil Canton suggested Lloyd to Bob Gale and Zemeckis, as he had previously worked with him on The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. Lloyd initially turned it down as he was not familiar with Zemeckis, but was encouraged by his wife to reconsider.