Dr. Emmett Brown has an affinity for the number 88

NEED TO KNOW

• Christopher Lloyd celebrated his 88th birthday on Oct. 22, one day after Back to the Future Day, with a special nod to the time-traveling film
• His costar, Michael J. Fox, shared a special tribute with a nostalgic nod to the hit 1985 sci-fi comedy
• “We truly are timeless. Love you friend,” Lloyd told Fox

Christopher Lloyd is having a very nostalgic birthday.

On Thursday, Oct. 22, Michael J. Fox and his Back to the Future costar celebrated Lloyd’s 88th birthday with a sentimental nod to the hit 1985 sci-fi comedy.

“Great Scott you’re 88! That’s some serious shit, love you! 😎,” Fox, 65, captioned an Instagram post, which featured a photo of them having dinner at a beachside restaurant. Fox and Lloyd originally published the photo in March.

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“We truly are timeless. Love you friend,” Lloyd replied in the comment section.

Earlier in the day, Lloyd also shared a message on social media to mark the special occasion. 

“I told you when this baby hits 88, you’re gonna see some serious shit!” he said in a video.

“Today I turn 88…I’ve seen some serious shit,” he added on X. “The most serious of it all is love. I love my family, my friends, and my wonderful fans. The power of love remains.”

Fox and Lloyd’s comments referenced a scene from Back to the Future, when Lloyd’s eccentric Dr. Emmett Brown shows Fox’s Marty McFly his plutonium-powered DeLorean time machine.

“If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 mph, you’re gonna see some serious shit,” Doc Brown tells a young McFly right before the vehicle vanishes in a flash of light.

As an added Easter egg, Lloyd’s 88th birthday was one day after “Back to the Future Day,” because Oct. 21 is the exact date that Marty, Doc Brown, and Jennifer Parker (Elisabeth Shue) travel to in the 1989 film Back to the Future Part II. 

Speaking exclusively with PEOPLE at the A Country Thing Happened on the Way to Cure Parkinson’s event in Nashville in April ahead of Lloyd’s 88th birthday, Fox called his costar one of the most “youthful” people he knows.

He also added that Lloyd was “great” and “So young.”

The two have bonded over the years, becoming especially close while making 1990’s Back to the Future Part III, the final installment of the time-traveling franchise.

“Chris is a great guy. He’s very enigmatic,” Fox told Variety at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. “It took me a few films to get to know him. On Back to the Future Part III we connected in a way we hadn’t on the other films. I came to see how much he loved acting. I never got that before.”

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“To sit down and talk about acting, and talk about Shakespeare and King Lear…This guy can play King Lear! People don’t expect that of him. He’s full of surprises,” Fox added.

Later in the conversation, the Teen Wolf alum praised Lloyd for being someone who could quickly understand stories that other actors couldn’t.

“Chris is brilliant at it. His love of film and his love of being an actor…He’s not just a crazy guy, he’s an artist,” Fox said.

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