Harrison Ford on ‘The Force Awakens’ and the Return of Han Solo
Contrary to a hard-to-source quote that’s long been floating around online, Harrison Ford insists he never said that he “outgrew” Han Solo. And as he sat in a Beverly Hills hotel suite in November for his Rolling Stone cover-story interview on The Force Awakens, it quickly became clear that rumors of his hostility towards the character – and the franchise that helped launch his career – have been greatly exaggerated. Or maybe he was just in a good mood that day. Here’s Ford’s full interview:
Are you as surprised as anyone that you ended up playing Han Solo again?
I was, um, delighted that they came up with a script and a director that created an ambition to be part of it. They found a way to make it interesting for me and, I’m confident, for the audience [as well]. J.J. Abrams is a director that I’ve admired for a long time, from the very first scripts he wrote — including Regarding Henry, which I was in. The product has matched and exceeded my expectations.
Over the years you had expressed mixed feeling about this particular part. You said you had outgrown it, you wouldn’t return to it, etc.
I don’t think I, no … I didn’t say I outgrew it. What I said was I thought we ought to kill him. And that was because I didn’t have the imagination to recognize the potential in the future for the character. I was only going to do three of them; I wanted to use the character to supply some bass notes, some gravitas that I thought would be a useful — an emotional utility for the audience’s investment. I thought to continue to be the wise-cracking cynic was not perhaps … You know, it was a suggestion. It got picked up by the press because I had the fundamental ignorance to fucking say it out loud.
Right. You were never trapped in this role.
It gave me enormous opportunities. The success that attended this film gave me the chance, just by my attachment to that success — it gave me enormous opportunities. It gave me a life, a career that has sustained me with work, put food on the table…
Fuel in the planes?
Almost.
Right as Lucas was finishing the first movie, he was asked why he cast you: “He was the best actor for the part. Harrison is handsome, dashing, and sullen, with an underlying current of sensual hostility.”
Jesus, I didn’t know he liked me that much. Well, I like him that much, too. In the words of Donald Trump, “Whatever!”