Harrison Ford in 1989. Credit: Ron Galella/Getty
While Indiana Jones and the Dial of Doom are bragging on movie screens, the (supposedly last) adventures of the world's most famous fictional archaeologist always risk being overshadowed by the real-life behavior of his star, Harrison Ford. The 80-year-old actor may have been reduced to uncharacteristic tears at a press conference at this year's Cannes Film Festival due to the warmth of his red carpet reception, but generally speaking, Ford's public persona is somewhere in between the outspoken industry. a veteran and a grumpy old man through and through.
At a time when most superstars, especially those who have been in business for decades, seem desperate to not offend or upset anyone, his frankness and willingness to appear sincere, even eccentric, make him perhaps the last of the old school. Hollywood icon. Here are just a few of the ways Ford has earned such a stellar reputation.
1. His career nearly ended before it even started
Ford made his screen debut in the 1966 crime film Deadly Heat on the Carousel, in which he briefly appeared as a delivery boy. After he finished his role, he was called to a meeting with the head of new talent at Columbia Pictures, who spoke unflatteringly about the actor's potential. As Ford later recalled, «He called me into his office and said, 'I want to tell you a story, baby… food, baby.' And you just looked at this guy and you knew he was a movie star.»
Understandably annoyed, Ford replied, «Well, I thought I was supposed to be a delivery boy!» The executive majestically told the young man to go away and learn how to act, which, according to Ford, led to «the last harsh words at parting with Columbia.»
2. He doesn't need an Indiana Jones hat
At the same press conference, a journalist asked Ford if he intended to keep the signature Indiana hat. The actor replied, “I have a hat, but I am not nostalgic about it. This is an experience that stays with you. The material is great, but then it doesn't matter to me.» On another talk show, he went even further: «I never hide anything from filming,» he said. “I don't want all this shit around my house. I don't need all this. I am a very rich man.»
Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny 3. He couldn't get Alec Guinness to remember his name
In a biography of Piers by Paul Reid, Ford's Star Wars colleague, in addition to general grumbling about the film's «garbage dialogue», it was revealed that Guinness had great difficulty remembering the then-unknown actor's name. As he wrote to a friend: “I must go into the studio and work with a midget (very nice — and he has to wash in a bidet) and your countrymen Mark Hamill and Tennyson (this cannot be) Ford. Allison (? — No!) — well, a fit, listless young man, probably smart and funny. But God, God, they make me feel 90 and treat me like I'm 106. Oh, Harrison Ford, have you ever heard of him?”
4. He hit Ryan Gosling
It's well known that Ford and original Blade Runner director Ridley Scott never got along, and much of the tension between them was their different beliefs about whether Deckard was a replicant (Scott says yes, Ford disagrees). What's less known is that in the Blade Runner 2049 sequel, Ford had a very different fight with his co-star Ryan Gosling. In an interview with This Morning, Ford said, «I found the stunts extremely challenging. That's how I hit [Gosling] this time… the story is that I missed 99 times and hit him once.» The young actor at least took it well, joking, “They say don’t date your characters. I say don't fall for them. It turns out that no matter who hits you, they still hit you.”
5. He couldn't wait for Han Solo to die
Ford always believed that Han Solo should die heroically at the end of Return of the Jedi, saying «I thought he should sacrifice himself for [Luke and Leia… He doesn't have a mom. He doesn't have a dad. He has no future. At the moment, he has no plot duties. So let's let him make a sacrifice.» George Lucas vetoed this on the grounds that the Solo character was so beloved by fans that audiences would be distraught over his death. Ford didn't get his wish until 2015's The Force Awakens, in which his character is killed by his conflicted son, Ben, aka Kylo Ren. However, as Ford told talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, «You work for a company for 25 years, you do your best, and then they just… let you go.» He then triumphantly declared, «I insisted that Han Solo be killed for 30 years, and finally I bored them.»
Harrison Ford as Han Solo. Photo: Getty 6. He definitely doesn't need therapy
Ford's first appearance in a streaming comedy series was this year's Apple TV series Shrinking, in which he plays a Parkinson's disease therapist. Thus, it was almost inevitable that Ford would be asked in an interview if he himself had been in therapy, which is usually an important rite of passage for any self-respecting actor. His response was typical of Ford. “My opinion is not about the profession, but about the practitioner. There are all kinds of therapy. I'm sure many of them will be useful to many people.» He then concluded that «I'm not opposed to therapy for anyone but myself. I know who the hell I am now.»
7. He got his ear pierced at Claire's Accessories
Ford decided to pierce his ear at the age of 55 after having lunch with his friend Jimmy Buffett and got jealous of the carnation in his ear. He and his then-wife, ET screenwriter Melissa Matheson, immediately walked into the Los Angeles branch of Claire's Accessories and had his ear pierced by a saleswoman named Tavora. According to Matheson, Ford «didn't flinch, and when it was done, he said, 'That doesn't hurt.'» Then he left a note: “Tavor. You made a hole in me. Harrison Ford.»
Harrison Ford with wife Calista Flockhart, 2002. Photo: Environmental Protection Agency 8. U he has problems with women
When Ford was filming Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in England, he ironically remarked to stuntman Dicky Beer, “You're damn lucky. You guys get all the girls.» Surprised, Beer, hearing this unexpected touch of self-deprecation from one of the most famous actors in the world, replied: “What are you talking about? You are Harrison Ford!» Ford just shrugged and said, «No one knows who I am.» He then tried to illustrate his point by trying to speak to two attractive women with the phrase «Hi girls. It's me, Han Solo!» According to Beer's memoirs, «the girls ran down the street.»
9. He toured with The Doors
Before Ford's acting career took off, he worked as a supporting role in a 1968 concert film by The Doors; he is often referred to as a simple roadie, but this detracts from his contribution as a second camera operator. He worked with the group for only a week and a half, but that time proved to be eventful. As he later recalled in the 1980s, “When it was all over, I was one step away from entering a Jesuit monastery. I thought it was cool, I thought it was trendy, but I couldn't keep up with these guys. It was too much.» He was also not particularly proud of his camera skills, which were never used again; as he said, «I don't think any of that was in focus. It wasn't there. Those were the old days.»
10. He's a big fan of British supermarkets
Considering that many of Ford's most famous films, from Star Wars to Indiana Jones, were filmed in Britain, one would expect the actor to be somewhat of an Anglophile. He has never spoken publicly about his love for the country, but he and his wife, Calista Flockhart, are known to take regular vacations on a narrow boat down the Union Canal, and the BBC breathlessly reported that during one such visits, he visited a local cooperative where he bought «sugar and black garbage bags». As befits an elderly film statesman, a few years later he was photographed shopping in Waitrose, where one newspaper remarked that his cart contained «blue-topped milk, some sriracha sauce, and what appeared to be a salad lunch box.»
11. He hates giving interviews
While Ford is always an eloquent and thoughtful interviewee, he is also not afraid to say anything that smacks of a false assumption on the part of his interviewer, which can make conversations with him extraordinarily belligerent. However, he is well aware of this. Earlier this year, he began one interview with The Hollywood Reporter by saying, «I'm trying to arrive with an empty mind and an open heart,» before saying «sarcastically,» «Break my illusions.» He further admitted, “I'm just here to do my job and my job at the moment is to help sell the product. This is what they really pay me for. I would do acting for free.”
12. He saved a few people and regretted it
The actor is known to be a private pilot license holder and has been helping emergency responders on rescue missions near his home in Wyoming for several years. However, he said, «I stopped doing it because we'll be lucky to find someone, and then they'll be on Good Morning America talking about the 'hero pilot.' Nothing like this. This is team work. It's silly to think of it that way.» It may not have helped that one young woman, Sarah George, rescued from Table Mountain in Wyoming in 2000, had an unorthodox reaction to her savior; Ford recalled: “Once we picked up a woman in the mountains who had hypothermia. She threw up in my cowboy hat, but she didn't know who I was until the next day.»
Harrison Ford in his Bell 407 helicopter, 2001. Photo: AP 13. He is deeply interested in philosophy
Many aspects of Ford's backstory are well known: how he started his career as a carpenter after failing to make it as an actor, had his big break in American graffiti, and never looked back after the success of the first Star Wars movie. What is less known is that he studied philosophy at Ripon College, from which he was expelled before graduation due to allegations of plagiarism, and retained an interest in it.
He told the Hollywood Reporter that «I didn't have any religious concept, but I think nature and God are the same. The mysterious origin of life — science tells us how it happened, prophecy tells us a different story. I have found that everything in nature — complexity, biodiversity, symbiotic relationships — is the same thing that other people attribute to God.” He then sarcastically asked the interviewer, “Aren't you glad you asked that question? Want to get back to the funny shit?» When the writer expresses his surprise at Ford's outspokenness, the actor replies, «I was saving this just for you, man.»
14. He knows what will be on his tombstone.
Although Ford is an active octogenarian — as the topless scene in the new Indiana Jones movie proves — he is also aware that age is creeping up on him. So it may have been bad manners for one journalist to ask him what he wanted written on his tombstone, but Ford was well prepared. «I wouldn't want it to be Harrison Ford blah blah blah actor.» I would settle for «Was helpful». An American of the modern era, Ford's response was brilliantly ironic. «Well, there's not much room on the tombstone.»
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