The journey of Harrison Ford, today, is a success story that inspires many across the Globe. From his initial days of making just enough from his gigs to get by, to becoming a part of two major franchises in Hollywood – Star Wars and Indiana Jones. When we look back at the classic original trilogy, it is hard to imagine a cast different from the one those movies had. But there was almost a different Han Solo as Harrison Ford might’ve missed the role that skyrocketed him to fame due to a previous project he worked on with George Lucas.
The second film by George Lucas, American Graffiti, tells the story of four teenagers who are obsessed with cars. Ford played a supporting role in the film, a street racer called Bob Falfa, who challenges one of the lead boys into a race. Though many might think working together for the film must’ve motivated Lucas to do other projects together with Ford, it wasn’t the case.
Harrison Ford almost lost the role of Han Solo
In his early days of struggle, Harrison Ford was forced to do odd jobs like carpentry to earn for his family. Though it was a hard job, it brought enough money for Ford to be able to choose which role he would play. He shared with Los Angeles Daily, back in 1986,
“Through carpentry, I fed my family and began to pick and choose from among the roles offered. I could afford to hold out until something better came along. But I never gave up my ambition to be an actor. I was frustrated but never felt defeated by my frustration.”
His carpentry was also the reason that the actor managed to get in contact with major names in the industry like Fred Roos and Francis Ford Coppola. The actor revealed that he had found out that George Lucas would not be working with anyone he worked on American Graffiti with and was looking for fresh faces for Star Wars.
Luckily for him, he was working a carpentry job at Francis Ford Coppola‘s office when the interviews for Han Solo were being held and he was picked. He shared with Vanity Fair in 2020,
“George Lucas made it known that he was not interested in working with anybody that he’d worked with in ‘American Graffiti,’ that he was looking for new faces. I was working on an elaborate portico entrance to Francis Ford Coppola’s offices, working as a carpenter, when George walked in with Richard Dreyfuss to begin the first of the interviews for ‘Star Wars.’ Somehow that rang a bell with George, and I became, eventually, Han Solo.”
According to reports, Lucas had asked Ford to help the auditioning actors read lines while he was working on the portico entrance, but he was impressed by the Indiana Jones actor instead, as he found what he was looking for in him. And as they say, the rest is history.
George Lucas wanted a different Indiana Jones too
George Lucas’s obsession with working with “fresh faces” could’ve almost cost Harrison Ford his iconic Indiana Jones franchise as well. Lucas told Empire back in 2008, “I was wary of Harrison and I becoming like Scorsese and De Niro.” And so he and Steven Spielberg wanted Tom Selleck for the role while casting for Raiders of the Lost Ark. But Selleck passed on the role due to his prior commitment to Magnum P.I.
So, Steven Spielberg suggested Ford for the role but George Lucas was doubtful. The creator of Star Wars thought Harrison Ford might not be up to signing a three-movie deal for Indiana Jones, which was originally planned to be a trilogy. But to Lucas’s surprise, Ford jumped at the chance and took the role. In the same Vanity Fair interview, he highlighted, “In the case of ‘Indiana Jones,’ I felt there was enough information to allow me to do a number of those.”
The actor always felt that his Han Solo had told his story by the Return of the Jedi, and wanted his character to die. But with Indy, he knew enough of the story that could expand for a trilogy or more. As of now, it has five films, with the last film that came out just this year.
Star Wars Original Trilogy and Indiana Jones movies can be streamed on Disney+
Source: Vanity Fair
