Harrison Ford has left a mark on the world of cinema as a major Hollywood movie actor. The star, who has been a part of the industry for decades, has been a part of two of the most successful blockbuster franchises- Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Apart from that, his work includes consistent quality and higher auteur-driven thrillers like Witness and Presumed Innocent, and also a winsome presence in comedies like Working Girl.
Adding to his portfolio was a well-known cat-and-mouse thriller based on a 1960s television series that debuted in 1993 – The Fugitive. Though it didn’t necessarily become a critics’ favorite, it seemed to suit the Ford cinematic mold. However, The Fugitive, a type of movie that Hollywood no longer produces, ended up becoming one of the most thoughtfully made Hollywood blockbusters in recent memory.
Warner Bros.’ past issues with facial hair
Warner Bros.’s difficulties with Henry Cavill’s facial hair have just come to light, but it appears that the studio also had issues with Harrison Ford‘s beard when it came time to shoot the movie. Director Andrew Davis recalls the outcry caused by Ford’s appearance because he was typically only shown with a little beard on camera. Describing the situation, Davis said,
“Harrison had a beard at the time, and he wanted to keep the beard. The studio was pissed off. [Ex-Warner Bros. chairman] Bob Daly said, ‘I’m paying for Harrison Ford’s face, I want to see Harrison Ford’s face!’”
After some negotiation, a compromise was reached: Ford would keep his beard until his character needed to change his appearance, at which point he would shave it off.
Director recalls the movie’s initial script to be “terrible”
The Fugitive, directed by Andrew Davis, is about Dr. Richard Kimble (Ford), a surgeon falsely charged with killing his wife, who is on the run from the law after the bus carrying him to prison is involved in an accident. Sam Gerard, a determined and cunning U.S. Marshal (Tommy Lee Jones), is after him. Although the film was an instant hit at the box office and inspired the sequel US Marshals, Davis noted that the original script for the film was “terrible.”
“The script was terrible. He’d hired the one-armed man to kill Kimble, after Kimble screwed up an operation on Gerard’s wife. It made no sense. But Harrison had committed to the movie, and his viewpoint was: ‘Hey — we’ll fix the script.’
He continued,
I said, ‘Josie, what could a doctor do that would get him in a lot of trouble?’ She talked to some bright young resident at her hospital, who said, ‘What if there’s a dangerous new drug on the market — and the doctor says this drug is bullsh*t?’ So, that became the plot.”
According to reports, Harrison Ford’s fuzzy face wasn’t the biggest problem during filming because the screenplay kept changing, which caused a lot of the speech to shift as well, including the addition of the phrase that would go on to become the movie’s most renowned – “warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse or doghouse”
Read More: “I had to be in bed with him”: Fast X Star Couldn’t Wait to Sleep With 80 Year Old Harrison Ford
Source: Movie Web
