{"id":105191,"date":"2025-07-30T16:01:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T16:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/105191\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T16:01:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T16:01:15","slug":"shrinking-season-3-emmy-nom-and-marvel-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/105191\/","title":{"rendered":"Shrinking Season 3, Emmy Nom and Marvel Future"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t\u201cIs it just me or does he look like the president of the United States?\u201d That\u2019s what Jessica Williams whispered to the producers of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/t\/shrinking\/\" id=\"auto-tag_shrinking\" data-tag=\"shrinking\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Shrinking<\/a>\u201d while she was watching from behind the camera as her co-star <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/t\/harrison-ford\/\" id=\"auto-tag_harrison-ford\" data-tag=\"harrison-ford\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Harrison Ford<\/a> acted in a scene that took place at a formal event. \u201cAnd they were like, \u2018No, that\u2019s just what Harrison Ford looks like in a tuxedo, and it\u2019s insane.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tOn this Monday morning, I\u2019m witnessing the same phenomenon as Ford sits in a photo studio, his black bow tie hanging loose as he holds a paper cup of black coffee as if it were a tumbler of whiskey. His face, still impossibly handsome at 83, conjures up dozens of movie heroes, from Jack Ryan to Indiana Jones, Han Solo to Rick Deckard, to, yes, multiple presidents of the United States. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tNow, after amassing a box office haul of more than $12 billion as one of the highest-grossing movie stars in history, Ford is earning a reputation as a small-screen standout thanks to his performances in Taylor Sheridan\u2019s Yellowstone prequel \u201c1923\u201d and \u201cShrinking,\u201d where he plays Dr. Paul Rhoades, the eccentric senior member of a psychotherapy practice in Pasadena, who has been diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s. <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-variety-2020\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Harrison-Ford-Variety-Cover-Story-FORWEB.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-lazy- data-lazy- height=\"1024\" width=\"792\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPeggy Sirota for Variety<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tIn typical fashion, Ford, who just received his first Emmy nomination and some of the best reviews of his career for \u201cShrinking,\u201d downplays the difficulty of the performance. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t\u201cI say the words, do the work, rinse and repeat,\u201d he says with his trademark dry humor. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tIt\u2019s grueling work, but Ford has enjoyed one luxury that being part of a streaming series provides. \u201cWe get more time to develop a character over a season than one normally does in a film,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tOf course, Ford has revisited several of his most famous parts throughout his career, returning to play Han Solo nearly 40 years after the first \u201cStar Wars\u201d movie, as well as Deckard in two \u201cBlade Runner\u201d movies 35 years apart, and suiting up as Indiana Jones five times across four decades. He didn\u2019t come back to those roles for the payday; Ford wanted to examine the consequences of his characters\u2019 actions as they aged. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tSo perhaps it shouldn\u2019t be a surprise that, at a moment when many of his peers are busy collecting lifetime achievement awards, Ford continues to challenge himself artistically. In \u201cShrinking,\u201d he seems looser and more vulnerable than he\u2019s ever been. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t\u201cHe could do an absolutely amazing job caring way less,\u201d his co-star Jason Segel says. \u201cThis guy knows his moves, but he\u2019s not content to do his moves. He\u2019s creating a character from scratch.\u201d Segel points to the Season 1 episode where Ford delivers an all-out slapstick performance when Paul shows up to a party high on weed gummies; it\u2019s evidence of Ford\u2019s willingness to go places he\u2019s never been. \u201cI don\u2019t think anybody knew that Harrison could do that,\u201d Segel says. \u201cThere was a moment during that episode when he got a giant laugh from the crew, and he walked by me and he whispered in my ear, \u2018I knew I was fucking funny.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-variety-2020\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Shrinking.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-lazy- data-lazy- height=\"564\" width=\"1024\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tJason Segel and Harrison Ford on \u201cShrinking\u201d<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBeth Dubber\/Apple Tv +<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tSegel adds: \u201cI\u2019ve never forgotten it, because it affirmed this idea that I had, that we all have these parts of ourselves that we believe are unknown to others, and we want them to be known. I feel like, as a performer, [comedy] is this little corner of the room that Harrison hadn\u2019t gotten to show yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tThe way Ford creates characters is unique, says J.J. Abrams, who worked with him on two \u201cStar Wars\u201d movies, as well as \u201cMorning Glory\u201d and \u201cRegarding Henry.\u201d \u201cHarrison meets them between who he is and who the character is,\u201d Abrams says. \u201cIt\u2019s like he bends the will of the character to be the thing that he brings to it in a way that I don\u2019t see other actors do quite so much.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tAs he sits across from me, Ford glances at his phone and smiles. He just got a text with the gag reel from \u201cShrinking,\u201d which wrapped filming Season 3 two weeks ago. When he presses play by accident, the audio from the clip kicks in, and the room fills with the sound of his castmates cracking each other up.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tFord comes around the table to show me: There\u2019s a clip of him on the \u201cShrinking\u201d set bursting through the door to the \u201cIndiana Jones\u201d theme. I don\u2019t have to look over my shoulder to know that he\u2019s smiling, delighted by the memory of being part of this particular ensemble. <\/p>\n<p>\t\tHow does it feel to get your first Emmy nomination for \u201cShrinking\u201d?\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tI don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything competitive about creativity, and I don\u2019t understand the need to compare and contrast one person\u2019s work to another\u2019s. If you like it, you like it; if you don\u2019t like it, look at something else. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tI\u2019m grateful, but I would have done what I did \u2014 and I\u2019ll do what I\u2019m doing \u2014 regardless of whether it\u2019s deemed worthy of mention or not. Because it\u2019s what I do. It\u2019s what I love doing. I love telling stories. I love pretending to be somebody else. <\/p>\n<p>\t\tIn the Season 2 finale, Paul delivers a speech about how grateful he is for the family that he and his colleagues have created. Has life imitated art in terms of how you feel about working with this ensemble?\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tI don\u2019t know whether life is imitating art or art is imitating life, and I don\u2019t care. [He laughs.] But it is true that in this case, these people do have warm feelings for each other. You\u2019re really living with these people, as well as working with them, and that familiarity either breeds contempt or not \u2014 and these people have been wisely chosen to be not contemptible. <\/p>\n<p>\t\tHow did you approach playing Paul? \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tIt\u2019s an additive process. One brick goes on another brick; pretty soon you have a house. But if you don\u2019t have a firm foundation, then the whole thing is askew. You\u2019re trying to find that place where you can use your honest experience to represent the ideas and the relationships and the elements of the personality of the character. That\u2019s like being an item in a recipe. You\u2019ve got to know what your job is here \u2014 am I the onion or am I the tomato? <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-variety-2020\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Harrison-Ford-Variety-Cover-Story-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-lazy- data-lazy- height=\"1024\" width=\"819\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPeggy Sirota for Variety<\/p>\n<p>\t\tYou\u2019ve said every character you\u2019ve played has comedic elements to it. \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tI think there\u2019s humor in everything. Sometimes it\u2019s just God\u2019s joke. A character that has a sense of humor is a lot more attractive than a character that doesn\u2019t. If somebody doesn\u2019t have a sense of humor, I don\u2019t want to hang out with them. So I try and bring some form of a sense of humor to whatever character I play.<\/p>\n<p>\t\tWhat are you adding to Paul for Season 3?\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tWhat continues to be added is fuel to the fire, and the fire in his case, right now, is in the Parkinson\u2019s department. He knows he\u2019s in decline. He knows that he\u2019s facing even more difficult physical circumstances than he finds himself in at the moment. He\u2019s entering a phase of his life which is a mystery, but he has a partner in the character that Wendie Malick plays. She\u2019s going on the journey with him, and so are all of his other colleagues.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tPart of what I love about what I\u2019m doing is that I don\u2019t know what the writers are going to come up with. And normally it\u2019s not something I would do, is take a shot like that. But I did it on \u201c1923\u201d and I did it on this. And it\u2019s kind of fun to say, \u201cOkay, I\u2019ll figure out how to do it, even if I don\u2019t know what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\t\tWhat made you do that? For much of your career, you have developed the stories you star in, but you\u2019ve never had much desire to be a screenwriter or producer, so why did you now decide to say, \u201cAlright, just take me there.\u201d\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tWell, they don\u2019t take me there. They show me where they want me to go, and then I get myself there. Sometimes I tell them, \u201cI don\u2019t think that works,\u201d but not with any degree of frequency. The way they write for this character is pretty specific, but it\u2019s not me.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tThere are writers on the set, which there are not usually on a movie, unless you\u2019re working for a writer-director. They\u2019re there to defend their stuff from whatever threat may come, either from the director or from the actors. I call them the \u201cPoetry Police.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\t\tWhy that name?\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tBecause they\u2019re there to protect the poetry. Comedy is delicate. You can fuck up a joke by using one word wrong in a 12-word sentence. I kind of like when it doesn\u2019t fit my mouth and I have to make it work. It\u2019s fun.<\/p>\n<p>\t\tMichael J. Fox joins the cast in Season 3. Was he helpful to talk to as Paul continues to deal with his illness?\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tIt\u2019s been essential. Michael\u2019s courage, his fortitude and his grace, more than anything else, is on full display. He\u2019s very smart, very brave, noble, generous, passionate guy, and an example to all of us, whether we\u2019re facing Parkinson\u2019s or not. You cannot help but recognize how amazing it is to have such grace. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tSo he gives me both a physical representation of the disease to inform myself with, but more than that, he allows me to believe that Paul could believe that he could be adequate to the challenge. The truth is that we can\u2019t be fucking around with this just to make a joke or anything. Parkinson\u2019s is not funny. And I want to get it right. It\u2019s necessary to be correct with what we do in respect of the challenge that Parkinson\u2019s represents, and that we don\u2019t use it for its entertainment value. <\/p>\n<p>\t\tDo you find parts of yourself sneaking into Paul?\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tI do it on purpose, looking for what matches me and the character. When you\u2019re doing a series like this, the writers do begin to write for you, and sometimes they write for you too much. You want to say, \u201cStop, guys, I did this already. We\u2019ve done this. Let\u2019s go back to where the story starts, and instead of something that\u2019s become a kind of easy way of getting a laugh or an easy way of getting a point across, let\u2019s look for another way to do it.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\t\tYou can only say, \u201cDo you want me to pull my pants down and make my ass clap,\u201d so many times.\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tOne time. <\/p>\n<p>\t\tWhat\u2019s the last time you were flipping channels and came across something you starred in and thought, \u201cMight as well revisit this\u201d? \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tYeah, it was actually \u201cWitness.\u201d I was flicking through, and I saw me and watched for a minute or two. <\/p>\n<p>\t\tHow\u2019d you look? \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tYoung. <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-variety-2020\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Whitness.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-lazy- data-lazy- height=\"683\" width=\"1024\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tFord with Kelly McGillis in \u201cWitness\u201d<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto 12\/Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n<p>\t\tYou were nominated for an Academy Award for that performance. What was it like to make \u201cWitness\u201d?\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tThe role was fantastic. I got to work with Peter Weir. What I loved about the movie was that we had a very, very short period of preproduction. Peter knew nothing of the Amish, so he went away to learn about the Amish, and I went away to research the police. And we came back together two weeks after that and discussed what we learned. And that was included in the rewrite. I love that kind of tension that we were under \u2014 we didn\u2019t really have the script entirely figured out, so we left a couple of big holes in it when we started. I felt really good about the film we were making, and the film was quite a success. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tTo the nomination, Peter and I were working on \u201cThe Mosquito Coast\u201d at the time, so neither of us were able to be part of the ceremony. So it\u2019s kind of like it never happened. We watched it on TV on the boat I was living on in Belize. It didn\u2019t matter to me whether I won, but I was pleased that the performance was recognized. <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-variety-2020\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Mosquito-Coast.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-lazy- data-lazy- height=\"680\" width=\"1024\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tFord with director Peter Weir in \u201cMosquito Coast\u201d<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTCD\/Prod.DB\/Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n<p>\t\tYour first on-screen role was playing a bellboy in \u201cDead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round.\u201d What do you remember about your debut?          \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tI was under contract to Columbia Pictures at the time for $150 a week and all the respect that that implies. I was called into the office of the head of the new talent program, and he told me that I had no future in the business. Which was OK. And then he asked me to get my hair cut like Elvis Presley. That I didn\u2019t go along with. <\/p>\n<p>\t\tAnd he asked you not only to get your hair cut, but also to change your name. \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tHe thought that \u201cHarrison Ford\u201d was too pretentious a name for a young man. <\/p>\n<p>\t\tHe might want to reevaluate that. \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tI met him later, across a crowded dining room. He sent me a card on which he\u2019d written, \u201cI missed my guess.\u201d I looked around, couldn\u2019t remember which one he was, but then he nodded at me and smiled, and I thought, \u201cOh yeah, I know you.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\t\tWhat made you want to be an actor?\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tI\u2019d been to college, and I hadn\u2019t made a success of my academic career. At the beginning of my junior year, I looked for something in the course catalog that would help me get my grade point average up, and I came across drama. The first line of the paragraph that described the course said, \u201cYou read and discuss plays,\u201d and I thought, \u201cI can do that.\u201d I didn\u2019t read all the description \u2014 typical of me in those days \u2014 because the last few lines described that the course also required you to be part of the school plays for that academic year. I hadn\u2019t ever done anything like that before, so I was shocked by that part of it. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tBut I quickly recognized that I loved telling stories. I liked dressing up and pretending to be somebody else. And the people that I met had a similar bent, people that I might have overlooked. They\u2019re people that probably hadn\u2019t been really seen before, for who they are, for what they were \u2014 and they were storytellers. <\/p>\n<p>\t\tDid it make you feel seen? \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tNo, it made me feel truly unseen. Because I was able to hide behind the character, and that was the first freedom I really felt. <\/p>\n<p>\t\tLet\u2019s talk about \u201cAmerican Graffiti.\u201d It\u2019s a small role, but a breakout performance. \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tA lot of actors came out of that show, and I thought it was remarkable the way George [Lucas] used music in that film; it was a rare use of contemporary music. That movie was fun to make. It was made very, very cheaply. I do remember I was almost fired for taking two doughnuts instead of my deserved one. <\/p>\n<p>\t\tThat film was the beginning of a long friendship with George Lucas. What stood out when you first met him?\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tI didn\u2019t think he could speak. He never spoke. I remember there was an interview for the part that I was eventually given, and he was the only guy in the room that didn\u2019t talk. I later realized he didn\u2019t like to talk very much, but he did when necessary.<\/p>\n<p>\t\tYou improvised Han Solo\u2019s famous response, \u201cI know,\u201d after Leia tells him she loves him in \u201cThe Empire Strikes Back.\u201d What\u2019s the story behind the line? \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tI was supposed to say, \u201cI love you too,\u201d and I thought that was a little un-Han Solo-ish. I thought it was a little banal. So I said no, and [director] Irvin Kershner agreed with me. George, when he saw it, was not so sure, and made me sit next to him at the screening of the film the first time we ran it for an audience. They laughed, but it was a good laugh, so we kept it in. Thank you, George. <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-variety-2020\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/The-Empire-Strikes-Back.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-lazy- data-lazy- height=\"707\" width=\"1024\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tFord on the set of \u201cThe Empire Strikes Back\u201d with Mark Hamill, George Lucas and Carrie Fisher<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAJ Pics\/Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n<p>\t\tWhen did you know that Han Solo would be a character that would become something special? Was it once you got to the second film or the third film?\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tI didn\u2019t really know whether there was going to be another film when we started, and because I didn\u2019t know whether there would be another film \u2014 and because I only had the script from the first one to consider \u2014 I didn\u2019t sign the sequel deal, which turned out to be to all of our advantage.<\/p>\n<p>\t\tYou, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill had a singular experience because of those films. What comes to mind when you think of them?\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tI had a special relationship with both of them. Carrie had a very inspired wit and very special manner. She\u2019s also very smart, very funny. Both of them were dear friends \u2014\u00a0are dear friends.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-variety-2020\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Apocalypse-Now.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-lazy- data-lazy- height=\"576\" width=\"1024\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tFord with Jerry Ziesmer in \u201cApocalypse Now\u201d<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTCD\/Prod.DB\/Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n<p>\t\tAnother early role was working with Francis Ford Coppola on \u201cApocalypse Now.\u201d What was that experience like? \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tI played a character that I named myself. He wore his name proudly on his uniform. The name was L-U-C-A-S, Lucas. I played a small part, an American soldier who gives Captain Willard [Martin Sheen] the assignment to kill Colonel Kurtz [Marlon Brando]. I play a very nervous guy with a funny haircut. I went down to the Philippines and shot my part of it right after one of the \u201cStar Wars\u201d movies, and when George Lucas first saw the movie, he didn\u2019t know the character was me, even though he was named Lucas. An Easter egg, I now understand it to be.<\/p>\n<p>\t\tYou\u2019re one of the few actors who has worked with Spielberg, Lucas and Coppola. What was it like to be making movies in Hollywood at that time? \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tYou\u2019re talking about a very exciting time in the movie business. In the late \u201870s and through the \u201880s, there was this group of young filmmakers, all of them wildly independent, both in spirit and in mind, who wanted to make their own films their own way, and they all burst upon the scene at much the same time. I was very lucky to lump in with those guys because I was of a youthful age. But I never expected to be anything more than a character actor. I never wanted to be anything more than somebody that made a living as an actor. <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-variety-2020\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Harrison-Ford-Sean-Connery.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-lazy- data-lazy- height=\"640\" width=\"1024\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMark Mainz\/Getty Images for AFI<\/p>\n<p>\t\tYou shared the screen with Sean Connery in \u201cLast Crusade.\u201d What was his style?\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tI had the best time with him. He\u2019s not the Billy Goat Gruff that everybody thinks he is \u2014 and neither am I. He asked me to play tennis with him, and I hadn\u2019t played tennis much before. In fact, not at all. I was able to serve the ball, but I hit him in the back two times with a serve \u2014 much to his amusement. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tBut when we got into the motorcycle with the sidecar, he really began to give me trouble; he thought he was more qualified to drive than I was. I think I proved him wrong. <\/p>\n<p>\t\tYou\u2019ve played Indiana Jones five times now. What has getting the chance to complete his journey with \u201cDial of Destiny\u201d meant to you? \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tWell, I wanted to see him as an older man facing the consequences of the life that he had lived. But I couldn\u2019t imagine that we were going to end up doing five of them. I didn\u2019t expect success. In the movie business, you always go in wanting to be successful, but you don\u2019t always expect to be. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tI did expect the first film would be wildly successful. I read it very quickly, one time. I\u2019d been asked by George Lucas to go and meet Steven Spielberg, who I didn\u2019t know, and he sent me a script to read. I thought it was great. And then I went to meet Steven, we spent about an hour together and suddenly I had a job. <\/p>\n<p>\t\tAnother character you revisited over the years was Rick Deckard in \u201cBlade Runner.\u201d \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tThat was an extraordinary experience. We shot for 50 nights in rain \u2014 most times, we were outside. It was sort of miserable to make, but it holds its own. <\/p>\n<p>\t\tDo you have a favorite cut of \u201cBlade Runner\u201d?\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tI like any cut without the voice-over. When we first saw the film in script form, it had a narration. I felt strongly that the narration was not right for the film \u2014 I played a detective, and I really talked about the detective part of my job, but I didn\u2019t appear to be doing it. So Ridley, the screenwriter, a producer and I spent three weeks at my dining room table taking the information that was in the voice-overs and making it part of the scene experience. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tAnd then at the end of the film, Warner Bros. said, \u201cWhat the hell is going on here? I don\u2019t understand this at all. Explain it.\u201d And the voice-over came back. I did the voice-over about six times, and nobody was ever happy with it. So I was glad that the film was finally released without it, which I think encourages the audience to be present in the story. <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-variety-2020\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Blade-Runner.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-lazy- data-lazy- height=\"683\" width=\"1024\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tRyan Gosling and Ford in \u201cBlade Runner 2049\u201d<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEverett Collection<\/p>\n<p>\t\tHow did you feel about coming back to work with Ryan Gosling and Denis Villeneuve on \u201cBlade Runner 2049\u201d?\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t I enjoyed the experience of making the second \u201cBlade Runner\u201d \u2014 to be fair, even more than I did the first one, because it wasn\u2019t raining and it wasn\u2019t night all the time. <\/p>\n<p>\t\tWhat about when you accidentally punched Ryan Gosling?\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t[We were rehearsing a fight] and we got too close and I hit him. I apologized right away. What more could I do? Can\u2019t take back a punch. Just take it. He\u2019s a very handsome man. He\u2019s still very handsome. <\/p>\n<p>\t\tIt\u2019s been 10 years since your plane accident. Helen Mirren said that she felt as if you approach things differently since then. \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tDid it have an impact? I suppose it did. I\u2019ve been through a couple of big accidents that took a while to heal from. This is not something dismissed lightly, but shit happens; it was a mechanical issue that was judged to be beyond my control. If I\u2019d been at fault, I would have taken another direction. But I don\u2019t think it informs my life on a day-to-day basis now that I\u2019ve recovered sufficiently from the physical effects. <\/p>\n<p>\t\tDid it change you as an actor? \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tNo. <\/p>\n<p>\t\tThere were moments in your career where you took on very different roles, such as the Russian submarine captain in \u201cK-19: The Widowmaker.\u201d Was it frustrating when the audience didn\u2019t respond? \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tNo. I knew they weren\u2019t going to like that one. [He cracks up.] I always used to think, \u201cI\u2019ll do one for me and one for them.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\t\tYou shot an endorsement video for Kamala Harris. You don\u2019t usually speak about politics directly. How do you feel about having made that video? \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tFine. <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-variety-2020\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Harrison-Ford-Variety-Cover-Story-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-lazy- data-lazy- height=\"1024\" width=\"819\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPeggy Sirota for Variety<\/p>\n<p>\t\tNow that we\u2019re six months into the Trump presidency, what do you think about where the country is?\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tThe pendulum doth swing in both directions, and it\u2019s on a healthy swing to the right at the moment. And, as nature dictates, it will swing back. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tBut currently the issue is not who we are, but that we\u2019re not who we used to be because we\u2019ve been purposefully disaggregated into serviceable political units. And that has caused the middle to become frayed and tenuous, and the middle is where we belong. Not because it\u2019s banal and safe, but because it\u2019s fair. Compromise is fair and honest. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tIn politics and in life, you don\u2019t always get what you want, but you get what you get and you don\u2019t get upset. They teach us that in kindergarten, but they also teach you to fight for what you think is right. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tNow, because we\u2019ve been disaggregated in this way, we\u2019re having a hard time finding commonality. But if you look at the economy, you\u2019ll figure out where the commonality is \u2014 it\u2019s where it always was: Rich get richer, and poor get poorer. And that ain\u2019t exactly right. <\/p>\n<p>\t\tWhere do we go from here? \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tYou\u2019re asking an unqualified person. So I don\u2019t have that answer. <\/p>\n<p>\t\tYou\u2019ve said you\u2019re open to the idea of working with your wife, Calista Flockhart. Do you guys have any ideas?\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tIf we get to work together, we\u2019d want it to be someone else\u2019s idea. That kind of casting might not be the best way to bring people into an imagined situation, because [audiences] may say, \u201cOh, I know they\u2019re married; now I\u2019m not even thinking about the movie anymore.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\t\tYou appeared in \u201cCaptain America: Brave New World.\u201d Has Kevin Feige convinced you to come back to Marvel again?\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tNope. <\/p>\n<p>\t\tWill you ever retire? \t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tNo. That\u2019s one of the things I thought was attractive about the job of an actor, was that they need old people, too, to play old people\u2019s parts.<\/p>\n<p>\t\tHair: Patricia Dehaney; Makeup: Alexa Coleman\u00a0\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIs it just me or does he look like the president of the United States?\u201d That\u2019s what Jessica&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":105192,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[30046,171,26206,58571,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-105191","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-emmys","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-harrison-ford","11":"tag-shrinking","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114943026115106005","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}