Claudia Wells lit up the big screen in one of the most memorable films of all time, Back To The Future. Playing opposite Michael J Fox, Wells was Marty McFly’s girlfriend Jennifer Parker. This is the woman who signed the flyer at the clocktower that got Marty home and, when he did, Jennifer was there to ride into the future in the DeLorean. Claudia is heading to Australia to take part in Supanova in Brisbane and Adelaide. Here, taking a break from her clothing store in California, she takes some time to talk to Sean Sennett about what is what like to be a part of one of the 1980’s most iconic films.

Initially yourself and Michael J Fox weren’t the first actors to be used in the lead roles. Then when Fox replaced Eric Stolz you were brought into the production. I know you auditioned earlier. Did you audition for Lorraine or did you just read Lorraine’s parts?  

I did read Lorraine’s part. I believe I was auditioning for Jennifer. They didn’t tell me anything. I believe I was auditioning for the girlfriend but the audition scene was the scene with Lorraine and Marty in the backseat of the car, where she’s smoking and she’s drinking.

I only had one audition. It was about two-and-a-half hours with Steven Spielberg, all the producers, Bob Zemeckis, Bob Gale, a cameraman who by the way was kicked out because Steven Spielberg said he can’t bear to have a cameraman and a camera there. He has to be the cameraman himself.

The guy I read with, it was his eleventh call back for the role of Marty. They ended up making him “Drummer,” which I thought was very nice of them. It was the most fun I’ve ever had at any audition.

They made him the drummer in the band!

Yes, in the band.  And actually, it was funny because Steven was asking me  he said, “Claudia, do you smoke?” And I hate to admit this but I did. I said, “Steven, if I tell you the truth, you cannot tell my mom.” He said, “I promise I won’t.” I said, “No, but you really can’t tell because I’ll get in so much trouble.” And he said, “I swear to you. I promise I won’t.” I said, “Okay, I do.” And he said, “Then I want you to smoke in this scene.”

I found out years later that I am the only person ever to smoke in his office because he was one of the very first ever to have a non-smoking office. This was in 1984, yes. He wanted me to smoke and blow smoke into the poor actor’s face and spit water when I was pretending to drink  in this poor actor’s face.

We just had so much fun. And the reason I only had one audition I believe is because I had just screen tested for Gremlins and not gotten the part, so it was down to Phoebe Cates and me. And Goonies, I just screen tested for. It was Gremlins, Goonies, and Young Sherlock Holmes got down to me and either one or two other girls. You never quite know if it’s one or two other girls.

When I walked in for Back to the Future, it’s all the same casting people. It was all Amblin, so the same main producers. I walked right in and said, “Hey, it’s me again.” And I fully expected it to get down to me and one other girl. Then nothing. I was more nervous about a commercial call back I had that afternoon because I just had no nerves whatsoever. I was prepared. But they knew me at that point. They certainly knew my work so I was excited to be meeting Steven Spielberg.

It was too much fun. Steven was asking me all kinds of questions, and everything he asked me, my first answer was “You cannot tell my mom. You cannot tell my mom.” It was so much fun. Honestly you have to know, as innocent as Jennifer Parker was, if it’s possible to be more innocent, that would have been me, truly. Seriously, I was Jennifer Parker.

I understand when you were with Michael J. Fox you thought to yourself this is what it feels like to be somebody’s girlfriend, right?

I did. I did. I did. All I wanted to have was a boyfriend. When we would walk together and he would put his hand in my back pocket, I thought wow, that’s what the other girls in high school must have felt like having a boyfriend. I loved it, yeah. You’re right. I went to the prom with my best friend. It’s true. It’s true. And the funniest part was at the end of the audition with Steven, he goes, “Oh, shoot, the camera was rolling this whole time.” I wonder if that film was saved anywhere. It was two-and-a-half hours we were in there.

I’m sure it’s in archive somewhere. A friend of mine said to me that he doesn’t understand why the famous kiss in front of the clock tower doesn’t top the list of best kisses in cinema history. And the other thing is too that when you made that film, which is very hard to do, you really captured the innocence of what love could be for a teenager, in that moment, when you had that kiss on the screen.

That’s beautiful, thank you. I don’t know what to say That gives me chills. Thank you. That was  you got me tongue tied.

When you were filming, people don’t know how things are going to work out historically, but did you feel you were on something special with this film when you started rolling?

I felt very comfortable and confident in the authority I was under, and the umbrella I was under. There was nothing that wasn’t perfection. Bob Zemeckis had his eye on every moment because if you look at that clock-tower scene, it was one full long shot, which means the women in the aerobics’ class and cars that were driving by, and the kids, every single thing, while we were walking toward the bench was perfection and all done at the same time. That was one long shot.

It’s almost like when you’re in church and you’re under the umbrella of the shepherd, the pastor of your church. And you’re confident in his authority. I was confident under the umbrella of the authority of Bob Zemeckis.  He had it. There was such a professionalism and an authority.

So in terms of that, and then being under the authority of the writing of Bob Zemeckis and Bob Gale, utterly and completely yes. It was a perfect script, and Bob Gale is one of the greatest geniuses of our time. I think he is one of the most down-to-earth, brilliant, direct men or people that I’ve ever met in my life. I consider him one of my favourite people there are, truly.

When you shot your scenes, did you do them all over a few days, at the beginning and ending of the film, or did you come back?

No, it took about three weeks. We started with the last scene of the movie. It was very interesting. In fact, we started with a part of the last scene of the movie, and then went to some other scenes, and ended with the other part of the last scene, if I’m remembering correctly. I know that our first day of filming was the last scene of the movie.

Did you feel you knew the character better because you’d done the ending first?

I did a lot of homework. I always did a lot. I knew everything about Jennifer. I knew what kind of grades she got. I knew everything about her family life. I did a lot of character homework on Jennifer. That’s the kind of actress I am. That’s the kind of homework I put into any kind of character I play. I create all of the background on a character.

You have a bit of a style guide, a book with all this information in it?

Yeah. I add in all the information so that when I’m playing a role she’s an entire human being. It didn’t matter to me what part of the film they started or which line of which scene. She was an entire human being. Maybe that’s why people have such an affinity  maybe that’s why people relate to her. She was a full person. That’s interesting. Maybe that has something to do with it.

It’s interesting in terms of time because the film came out in ’85. The film is set in ’55. Here we are in 2016. We’ve actually gone further in time than what the DeLorean went back in time. How does that feel to you, that whole stretch of time?

That’s right. It’s very interesting. Wow, you know this whole thing is amazing to me because I am 50 years old now and I feel like I’m the freest I’ve ever been, ever in my life. I can’t compare how I feel now to any other point I’ve lived. I feel freer and more whole and less self-conscious or ego-driven than at any other point ever in my life.

I feel more of the person that I was created to be. That’s my prayer every day, is I want to be the person that God created me to be. So I feel freer than I’ve ever felt since forever.

When you were shooting the film, when you weren’t on screen, did you hang around or go away? 

When I was shooting the film, we were only doing my scenes. That was something interesting. I have never experienced that before. It was my first film, so I was accustomed to doing 10 or 12 pages a day, like they do in television. But on a film project back then, you do three-quarters of a page in a day, or maybe half a page because lighting and camera setup took so long, which is entirely different than how things are done today.

I was there the whole time. Had there been other people filming or other things, I would have definitely hung around and watched, absolutely. Because I would have been intrigued and interested.

I had a look on your webpage and fans send you things to sign all the time. What’s the most interesting thing that’s been sent to you?

I was sent  I get sent the visor a lot. I’ve been sent flux capacitors. I’m always astounded when someone sends me something that’s been signed by the rest of the cast, because I take that so personally that they have such a great deal of trust in me. I will say, and I’m about to post a picture of it, I am heartbroken because someone sent me something and I lost the envelope. I don’t know who sent it. But I know it’s from another country and I feel so bad. I’m about to post it on Facebook and say please tell me whose this is. It has different signatures on it. I think it’s from Mexico.

Do you think there’s a future for Jennifer Parker? Can you see Back to the Future with technology now, being reimagined and redone with your involvement in some way?

I would do handstands to be involved. If I could still do a flipflop like I used to be able to do in gymnastics, absolutely, yes, 100% yes. I would adore that opportunity and I think it would be fascinating. We’re all still alive and well, and Michael gets better every time I see him. Yes.

Supanova takes place in Brisbane between November 11 – 13 at the BCC and is at the Adelaide Showgrounds between November 18 – 20.