Harrison Ford on “Indiana Jones”: Does the film herald the end of his career?

Harrison Ford, 80, returns as a whip-wielding archaeologist for one last time in Indiana Jones and the Wheel of Destiny. In an interview with the news agency spot on news, the now 80-year-old superstar talks about an adventurer who has lost his thirst for adventure, the joys of filmmaking and the possible end of his career.

In “Indiana Jones and the Wheel of Destiny” you are surrounded by many new faces. If you had to pick one person, who impressed you the most?

Harrison Ford: I don’t have any favorites and I don’t compare one to the other. I’m not saying this one is better or funnier than anyone else. That’s crazy. You are wonderful. Every individual. The boy, Ethann Isidore, brings true pleasure to the screen. He is such an exciting young performer. Phoebe Waller-Bridge, of course, who is brilliant, sophisticated and ambitious. A consummate actress. Mads Mikkelsen with his bag of tricks. With his great sense of inventing and creating a character. All these people contribute to this film. It’s just a pleasure to be with them and to work with them.

At what point in his life is Indiana Jones at the beginning of this film? What’s on his mind?

Ford: He’s more at the end of his life than at the beginning. He faces the consequences of his life. It is the last day of his academic career. He is retiring from his teaching position. In a brief moment of the film, he can be seen teaching archeology to disinterested students.

He’s lost a little of his joy in life – and his taste for adventure. His family life is broken. He suffered the loss of his son in Vietnam. He and his wife have problems, they are at odds.

In the first 20 minutes of the film, we see old Indiana Jones at the end of World War II. Then we cut to 1969. Before the new story begins, we see this man getting up from a chair in his underwear with an empty glass in his hand. He is confronted with rock ‘n’ roll music from his neighbors.

That’s the joy of filmmaking. This harsh editing and strong circumstances – beautifully brought to life by James Mangold and our cinematographer, Phedon Papamichael.

Of course the writers made it up, but it was important for me to face the issue of aging because it’s so obvious (points to himself from head to toe) that I’m not 40 anymore. And we don’t have any action heroes who are 80 years old.

But that’s the guy and that’s life and you know that guy. Is it fun to watch him still trying to be that guy? Until he really gets going, it might be uncomfortable. But for me, that’s the fun part of creating a character. The script encourages another expression of the character.

You said that Indiana Jones has no place in this film. What did you mean by that?

FORD: I meant that in 1969 he’s a person who still believes that if we think about the past, we’ll understand the future. Now he’s in a world where nobody wants to think about the past as much as they want to think about the future. And I think Indiana Jones will realize that that’s not enough. That’s what I meant by ‘feeling out of place’. He lives in a society with which he is no longer in tune.

As in the previous “Indiana Jones” films, “The Wheel of Destiny” is also full of great action sequences. Which stunts were the most challenging?

Ford: Probably the tuk tuk chase because there were so many little elements. But what’s fun about the Indiana Jones movies is that we have action sequences and at the same time dialogue is playing and all kinds of character things are happening. There’s also the consistent thread of emotion that runs through the films. Characters argue and begin to develop a relationship with each other. They receive little bits of information about each other and reveal themselves.

Keyword digital rejuvenation: Were you on the set for these scenes, or was a double used?

FORD: No, I acted out all those scenes – with markings on my face, but I acted them out.

Because I’ve worked for Lucasfilm for so long, they have a collection of my pictures. Every bit of film that was ever used, as well as every piece that wasn’t used, had been collected and stored. With the help of artificial intelligence, this can then be used – to get the right light at the right angle and so on.

I don’t fucking know how they do it, but the end result is my face from 40 years ago. It’s not a Photoshop face. This is actually my face. This artificial step is missing. So it looks very convincing.

I was excited about this instrument. I wasn’t too keen on the whole digital rejuvenation idea at first because I thought they were going to say, ‘Oh, that’s the guy we like.’ And then: ‘Oh dear! What a disappointment. What happened to his face?’ (laughs). But we’re talking about age here. We want to talk about age. We don’t run away from that.

I hope you don’t find the next question disrespectful…

Ford: Just out with it! I just can not wait it.

Are you planning to put an end date to your fabulous career?

Ford: No, I’m not thinking about an end date. I think of opportunities that may still exist and the joy of working. Also, I’m contemplating not working and trying to resist the temptation to play with this fairytale machine…

You mean filmmaking?

FORD Yes, filmmaking. The machinery of filmmaking. But I need to be active, busy and scared. I have to think about how to create something and that’s what I’ve learned. So I want to keep doing it.

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