Photo:Paramount/Getty ; Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty
Paramount/Getty ; Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty
Harrison Fordhas starred in some of the world’s most popular movies — and yet he’s said he never set out to be a movie star.
“I don’t want to be a movie star,” Ford, now 80, told PEOPLE in 1981. “I want to be in movies that are stars.”
Ford, a Park Ridge, Il., native, dropped out of Wisconsin’s Ripon College to move to Los Angeles in 1964, though it took him close to a decade to break through in the film industry.
PEOPLE’snew special edition,Harrison Ford: America’s Greatest Movie Hero,is available now wherever magazines are sold.
After working for a number of years as a carpenter to supplement income earned from a contract with Columbia Pictures, the actor met eventualStar WarscreatorGeorge Lucaswhen he was cast in Lucas’s 1973 movieAmerican Graffiti.
Ford went on to play Han Solo in all three originalStar Warsmovies, shocking fans when his character was indefinitely frozen in 1980’sThe Empire Strikes Backbefore his rescue inReturn of theJedi’s opening sequence three years later. He also reprised the role in 2015’s The Force Awakens, which made good on the actor’s long-held desire to give Solo a tragic death.
Notably, the actor improvised perhaps the most memorable line ofStar Wars' original trilogy: he decided to say “I know,” in response to Princess Leia’s (Carrie Fisher) declaration of love, though the movie’s original script called for a longer line and its director Irvin Kershner simply wanted Han to say “I love you” back.
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Star Warsspawned a creative partnership between Lucas and Ford that was fastened further when the filmmaker teamed up withSteven Spielbergfor what became the first Indiana Jones movie,Raiders of the Lost Ark(1981).
Surprisingly, Ford was not their first choice for the role: the two visionary filmmakers wanted to castTom Selleck, but when Selleck committed to filmMagnum, P.I., instead, they turned to Ford, who helped spawn a second iconic Hollywood franchise. Ford reprises the role one last time in his new movieIndiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
Jonathan Olley / Lucasfilm Ltd.
Spielberg’s desire to collaborate with Ford did not end with Indiana Jones' adventures. The director filmed a cameo with Ford for his 1982 classicE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, in which Ford played Elliott’s (Henry Thomas) school principal Harold Solo.
In the final cut of the film, the actor’s face is obscured from full view, but a sequence was originally filmed that would have shown Ford in full view for a scene with Elliott and E.T. himself.
Ford debutedIndiana Jones and the Dial of Destinyat the Cannes Film Festival in May, with some criticscalling it his “most emotional” performanceas the character.
In September 2022, Ford himselfgot emotional while speaking at the D23 Expoand showcasing footage from the sequel to fans. “Thank you for making these films such an incredible experience for all of us. I’m very proud to say that this one is fantastic,” he said.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destinyopens in theaters June 30.
For more about Ford, pick upPEOPLE’s new special edition,Harrison Ford: America’s Greatest Movie Hero,available now.
source: people.com
