Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford
Harrison Fordis an American actor and film producer. He gained worldwide fame for his starring roles as Han Solo in the original Star Wars epic space opera trilogy and the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in the neo-noir dystopian science fiction film Blade Runner, John Book in the thriller Witness, and Jack Ryan in the action films Patriot Gamesand Clear and Present Danger. Most recently, Ford reprised...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth13 July 1942
CityChicago, IL
CountryUnited States of America
I had no expectation of the level of adulation that would come my way. I just wanted to make a living with a regular role in a television series.
I haven't purposefully set out to play heroes. I'm interested in playing the character who finds himself in extraordinary circumstances. But he's really either just saving himself or acting in the service of something that's important to him.
I need a challenge. I need the intellectual stimulation. I'm a member of a community on each film, working in concert to try to bring an idea to life. It's a great job.
I think American films right now are suffering from an excess of scale. Lots of movies we're seeing now are more akin to video games than stories about human life and relationships. Twelve- to 20-year-olds are maybe the largest economic force in the US movie business. I'm not a very nostalgic person - but I enjoy a good story.
I think I did have a reputation for being grumpy. I don't think I'm grumpy. I have opinions. I have an independent vision. I am a purposeful person. But on a daily basis, I think I'm other than grumpy. I think it is a case where I am coming to do business and not there just to be flattered and cajoled and used.
Los Angeles is where you have to be if you want to be an actor. You have no choice. You go there or New York. I flipped a coin about it. It came up New York, so I flipped again. When you're starting out to be an actor, who wants to go where it's cold and miserable and be poor there?
Money is really only important if you don't have any.
No one wants to see a hero have to pick up his cane to hit someone, but I'm still quite fit enough to fake it.
There have been times in my life when I have felt I was lonely, but I don't think you want to live your life in order to mitigate against loneliness.
Never claim credit for anything. 'Cause you can't righteously do that. There's luck and grace and accident.
I realized early on that success was tied to not giving up.
You get a sense of reference there. You feel part of something that's got order and balance and harmony to it. All the distraction and noise, all the confusion of misplaced, misdirected energy just don't happen there.
I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, so nothing of what I was studying seemed to fit. I know now that I should have taken advantage of that time and that I missed a great deal of the opportunity to educate myself.
Hard work and a proper frame of mind prepare you for the lucky breaks that come along -- or don't.