Harrison Ford is the guest of this episode of Hollywood Reporter‘s Awards talks The podcast, over its 50-plus years in Hollywood, has entertained more people than anyone else and has undoubtedly become a living legend.
Ford is, of course, best known for his work on the big screen. He played a trio of everyman-turned-heroes around whom some of the biggest film franchises in history were built: Han Solo from star wars,Indy Indiana Jones And Deckard Blade Runner. He has also demonstrated his success and box office appeal in a host of other classic films including American graffiti, Conversation, a witness, Working girl, The fugitive, Air Force One and 42.
His films have collectively grossed more than $10 billion worldwide. Chosen by the National Association of Theater Owners as Star of the Century, empire The magazine ranked him first on its list of the 100 greatest movie stars of all time Wall Street Journal He called it “a living reminder of shared film moments that billions of people across generations and continents may hold dearly.” New York Times He described him as “one of the last true movie stars, a man who could sell tickets on his own name.”
However, over the past five years, he has devoted much of his time and attention to the small screen, doing some of his best work to date, especially on the small screen. Shrinkan Apple TV comedy in which he plays Dr. Paul Rhodes, the acerbic senior member of a psychotherapy practice in Pasadena, who is battling Parkinson’s disease. Last year, the show’s second season brought him the first Emmy nomination of his career; This year, its third season — which just ended this week — may bring him his first Emmy statue.
Over the course of a 90-minute conversation at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, the 83-year-old actor talked about how depression during college led him to acting; The fateful events that led to his move to Hollywood, becoming a contract player at the end of the studio system, and landing his life-changing role in… star wars; Why did he quickly develop a desire to escape being a ‘leading man’ and instead play ‘character roles’, and what did he make of the opportunity to do so in projects such as Mosquito Coast, 42 and Shrink; What it is Shrink He finds it both very challenging and rewarding; How does he feel about the future of cinema; Plus much more.
Below are some key excerpts of the conversation (lightly edited for clarity or brevity), which you can listen to in full at the top of this post or via any major podcast app…
On how clinical depression led him to acting…
“I had one room and had classes to go to, but I rarely ventured out. I would get out of my single bed, go to the phone, order a pizza, come back and lie in bed until the pizza came. I would eat the pizza, throw the wrappers in the corner, and go back to sleep. On the rare occasion I would go to class, I would often touch the outside door of the building, turn around and go back. I was more than depressed. I think I was sick. I was socially and psychologically ill and did not find community in college until I entered I accidentally – in an attempt to raise my grade point average – took a class called “Drama” without reading the full description of the class, and it started out in the description by talking about reading and analyzing plays, but I didn’t read the part that said you should do that. be in them Also, that was a surprise. I’ve never done anything like this. I was surprised that the people I considered nerds and misfits were actually some of the most interesting people I knew. They were doing something I didn’t really understand, they were telling stories about life and living, and some of them were exceptional in their ability to understand human behavior. And so I think I simply found my place among storytellers. “It really changed my world, and it changed my life.”
In a fateful meeting – arranged by the man who wrote the incidental music for the play in which Ford appeared, Ian Bernard – with a casting director at Columbia Pictures…
“He suggested that he had a friend or knew someone at Columbia Pictures who might help me with my career, so he made an appointment for me. I wasn’t a big movie fan, and I didn’t really know the names of the major motion picture studios, so this was my first time going into a studio. I was ushered into a waiting room with an English secretary and walnut walls, and I waited about 45 minutes until a guy who was sitting behind a desk saw me on two telephones… I walked into the office for a minute or two while he was doing this routine, and then he turned to me And he said, “Who sent you?” I said, “Ian Bernard.” He didn’t know who it was. He pulled out a little three-by-five card and said, “How tall are you?” I said, “How much do you weigh, 175 pounds?” “Oh yeah, I can ride a horse. certainly.’ and “Can you speak Spanish?” Which came out of nowhere. “No, I can’t speak Spanish.” “Well, if we find anything, we’ll let you know.” I was out of there in five minutes. I went down the hall, pressed the elevator button, and realized I had to pee. The men’s room was right next to the elevator. I went to the men’s bathroom, did my business, and walked out of the room seconds later to find the man behind the desk running down the hall saying, “Come on, he wants to talk to you!” I came back and said, “How would you like to be a contractor?” I didn’t know what that meant. I said: What does that mean? “That’s $150 a week to get started,” he said. “Oh, wow!”… Now I’ve been under contract with Columbia Pictures for seven years.”
On how he ended up in two very different projects directed by George Lucas four years apart, American Graffiti and Star Wars…
“he [Lucas] This was made clear to all performers’ agents American graffiti He will never use anyone[again[againinstar wars]— He was looking for new faces.[mail-[Post-American graffiti]I was working in the offices of Francis Ford Coppola installing an elaborate millwork gallery in his office, which is the entryway. I was working there for two weeks at night—I refused to work during the day, because I didn’t want to confuse people about who I was and what I was doing—and one morning I was sorting out the day’s work and finishing up, walking around with George Lucas and Richard Dreyfuss, who figured prominently in the work. American graffitiAnd he was there for the first interview star warsAnd here I am, with a broom in my hand and a carpenter’s tool belt! But luck continued to smile at me. Fred asked me [Roos, the casting director] If I was going to do them a favor and read with the actors who were reading for the roles, without any indication that I might be under consideration, I did so. People come in and they’re given two pieces of paper, some lines to read, and they read it, and they look at me and say, “What is this?” What is this? I will explain to them, in as few words as possible, because so many people were coming through me. I mean, I read with everyone…And in the end they told me they wanted me to do it.”
On his desire to escape the “leading man” roles and play parts of the character…
“When a role can be described as a ‘leading man’, you have certain responsibilities. You have to make the audience happy to be with you. You usually end up giving an easy answer to a difficult dilemma that was driving the film, and then you end up with an easy solution, as it were… I always wanted to be a character actor. I never thought I would be a leading man… I got to play leading roles because the films I was in were successful, and that success carried me along.”
On the joy of making Shrink…
“I find it really satisfying to do what I do, and I enjoy it as much as I ever could have imagined. Now I’m doing something I never thought I would do: a TV show now in its fourth season Comedy, playing a psychiatrist? Come on!… There are a few things that make it really fun. You work faster, and that’s fun for me – I like getting there, getting the work done, and going home. I like a challenge. I like the risk, if you will, of the work I can do and I like the company.
About sharing scenes with Michael J. Fox during the third season of Shrink…
“Here I am now playing a man with Parkinson’s disease, sitting next to Michael J. Fox. This is serious, man. This is not easy for me.”
About the future of the theatrical cinema experience..
“I am very concerned. I came at a period of time when the film industry was at its peak, when the film industry captured the zeitgeist of culture, and there was a transmission, a cross-feeding, and culture captured the zeitgeist of the movies. There is no longer a zeitgeist. We have been separated. We have been deliberately divided into serviceable political economic units. There is an empty center that needs to be filled, to bring culture back together, to bring culture and filmmaking together again, for the film industry to be useful in the consciousness of the public, culture and society.”
He reads THRInterview in season three Shrink Ending with co-author Bill Lawrence.
