Harrison Ford – the man, the myth, the legend – returns to the screens as Indiana Jones for one last time. And as fate would have it, the fifth film tells of a story that is as much James Mangold’s ambition as it is Harrison Ford’s dream. To go down swinging has never seemed to be on the cards for the 80-year-old but to go out guns blazing and whips cracking – sure.
But as much as one would like to claim Indiana Jones as his sole biggest achievement, it is Star Wars that the actor claims to remain forever grateful to, and rightly so.
Harrison Ford Doesn’t Like Being Put on a Pedestal
To the 80-year-old actor responsible for giving Indiana Jones a face and a personality, Harrison Ford doesn’t seem too proud for contributing to a revolutionary change in the popular culture of the movie industry. Ford’s films have witnessed just as much success at the box office as they have been entertaining for the audience. And it has been well known to all how Star Wars and Indiana Jones have inspired young minds to pursue a career in Hollywood as actors or directors.
However, when asked about being so elemental in bringing along this shift in Hollywood, Ford only makes a sound of dismissal and claims:
“Did I think they might be successful films? Yes—or I would have run away (laughs). It might have seemed odd to the British crew when we were making the first “Star Wars.” They might have said, “What’s going on here?” Like, there’s a seven-foot-tall man in a dog suit. There’s also a beautiful princess, a wise old warrior, and a callow youth. Then, there’s a smartass—I know the part I play (laughs). And it’s fun!
I thought, “This is a fairy tale.” This kind of story has always been successful, whether it’s a written or filmed fairy tale. At that point in my career, it didn’t matter to me that the film would become hugely successful and end up changing movie history.”
But at the same time, Harrison Ford does recognize the monumental impact that the movies had in changing the course of his life for the foreseeable future. In hindsight, it is hard not to appreciate the effect that Steven Spielberg and George Lucas had on his life and the cinematic canon over the course of the past half a century, even though he did famously beg the latter to kill off his roguish Han Solo in the Star Wars original trilogy.
Harrison Ford is Forever Grateful For Han Solo and Indy
For an actor of a caliber such as his, Harrison Ford will seldom be remembered for his roles in Age of Adaline or Six Days, Seven Nights. But those films, no matter how cult-status-approved they may have become over the years, are nowhere close to the classically inimitable works like Blade Runner or The Fugitive. And yet, even the latter two are lesser in comparison to two of the most universally recognized and acknowledged masterpieces, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones.
And if not for them both, Ford would not have found himself with the career he did go on to have over the years. And he admits the same claiming:
“I was grateful because it changed my life… It gave me freedom and opportunities that I never had imagined I might have… So, it’s been nothing but joy for me.”
Now, as he turns the final page of his chapter with Indiana Jones 5, Harrison Ford reminisces about the great achievements that shaped his life until this day and finds himself so overwhelmed that it’s hard to ever find him without a smile as he heads out to promote the film ahead of its world premiere.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is now playing in theatres worldwide.
Source: Inquirer
