'Back to the Future Part II' Cast Then and Now

— -- It's the day that "Back to the Future" fans have been waiting almost three decades for.

When Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) and Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) blasted their DeLorean into the future at the end of the 1985 cult classic sci-fi film and landed in Hill Valley at the start of 1989's "Back to the Future Part II," the date was October 21, 2015 -- which just happens to be today!

Thirty years later, you can catch all three films in the hit franchise (Part III came out in 1990) on a special 30th anniversary Blu-ray set, streaming free for Amazon Prime members or back on the big screen in theaters.

And while you're checking out the stars from 30 years ago, we have a look at where they are now. Here is the cast of "Back to the Future Part II" then and now:

Michael J. Fox

The star of the franchise was then America's favorite teenager from the hit show "Family Ties," though Canadian-born Michael J. Fox was actually 24 when he first took the role of Marty McFly.

He nearly didn't get the job. "Family Ties" producer Gary David Goldberg didn't want to risk losing him, so Eric Stolz was cast instead. After initial filming, it became clear that Stolz was miscast and director Robert Zemeckis went back to Goldberg. This time a deal was worked out so Fox could shoot the film at night after shooting his sitcom.

By the time "Part II" was shot, Fox was a bonafide movie star, and he took on the additional roles of his fraternal twins, Marty Jr. and Marlene McFly.

In addition to staring in all three movies, Fox starred in "The Secret of My Success," "Bright Lights, Big City," "Casualties of War," and "Doc Hollywood." In 1996, he returned to television in the hit sitcom "Spin City." During the third season he announced to the cast and crew that he had Parkinson's Disease and retired from the show in the fourth season.

While scaling back from show business, Fox became a strong advocate for Parkinson's research, creating The Michael J. Fox Foundation. In recent years, he's made a number of guest roles on "Rescue Me" and "The Good Wife," while NBC's "The Michael J. Fox Show," which was loosely based on his life lasted only a season.

Fox, now 54, is the father of four children with his wife of 27 years, actress Tracy Pollan.

Christopher Lloyd

Another television veteran, from the show "Taxi," actor Christopher Lloyd starred alongside Fox in all three films as Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown, the inventor of the time-traveling DeLorean.

Lloyd, now 76, actually appeared in a number of films, including "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock," before starring in "Back to the Future," for which he is best known. A veteran character actor, he has worked steadily since on both the big and small screens. He also reprised his role as "Doc" Brown in the "Back to the Future" video games and animated series. And he has reunited with Fox on "Spin City," "The Michael J. Fox Show," and most recently this Toyota commercial.

Another star of all three films, Thomas F. Wilson, played Biff Tannen and Griff Tannen in "Part II."

Wilson, now 56, began his career in Hollywood as a comedian, sharing an apartment with fellow aspiring comedians Andrew Dice Clay and Yakov Smirnoff. "Back to the Future" was his breakthrough role and following the third film, he appeared in smaller roles in such films as "Action Jackson," "Camp Nowhere" and "The SpongeBob SquarePants" movies. He has also made appearances in a number of television shows, including "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" and "Boston Legal," and played Coach Ben Fredricks in "Freaks and Geeks."

Lea Thompson

Lea Thompson reprised her role as Marty's mom, Lorraine Baines-McFly, in "Part II" and "Part III."

The 54-year-old actress began her career as a dancer and switched to acting, perfuming in a number of Burger King advertisements in the 1980s alongside Sarah Michelle Gellar and her eventual "Back to the Future" costar, Elisabeth Shue. After starring in "All the Right Moves," opposite Tom Cruise, and "Red Dawn" with Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen, Thompson was cast in "Back to the Future."

Afterward, she appeared in a number of films throughout the 90s, including "Howard the Duck" and "The Beverly Hillbillies," and found moderate success on television in "Caroline in the City." Taking a break to raise her two daughters with director Howard Deutch, Thompson returned to acting mostly on the small screen in Hallmark Films and ABC Family's "Switched at Birth." She also competed on "Dancing With the Stars" 19th season.

Elisabeth Shue

Star of "The Karate Kid," "Adventures in Babysitting" and "Cocktail," Elisabeth Shue replaced Claudia Wells from the first movie as Marty's love interest Jennifer Parker. She reprised the role in the third installment.

After, Shue strayed from her girl-next-door image and played a prostitute in the 1995 film "Leaving Las Vegas," opposite Nicolas Cage. The role earned her an Oscar nomination and opened up new roles for her, in Woody Allen's "Deconstructing Harry," Paul Verhoeven's "Hollow Man" with Kevin Bacon and "Hide and Seek" opposite Robert De Niro, among them. In 2012, Shue joined the cast of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation to play Julie Finlay.

Shue, 52, has three children with her husband, film director Davis Guggenheim.