Harrison Ford Refused to Do Scene Again Star Wars
MOVIE URBAN Fable : Harrison Ford accidentally auditioned for the role of Han Solo in "Star Wars."
While he'southward played many different parts in blockbuster films over his long career, Harrison Ford's most important part is still likely that of Han Solo in 1977's "Star Wars." The success of that film propelled him from trivial-known actor already in his mid-30s to a guy you'd rent to star in your large-budget blockbuster. With all respect to his other iconic office, Indiana Jones, if it weren't for Solo nosotros wouldn't know Ford'due south name today (outside of obsessed "American Graffiti" fans, of course). The histrion eventually had a sort of love/detest relationship with the function that fabricated him a star (as we covered in an old Flick Legends Revealed, he fifty-fifty asked George Lucas to kill off Han in "Return of the Jedi"), but he as well noted in a Reddit AMA that "Han Solo was too a huge office of my life." But how did Ford go the chance to play Han Solo in the first place? Did it necktie in with his famed early on career in carpentry? Read on to find out!
In 1964, Ford moved with and then-wife Mary Marquardt to Hollywood, where he before long got a spot at Columbia Pictures' new talent program, making $150 a week. His career didn't develop much at that place, and he up parting means Columbia. He signed on for a similar deal with Universal, where he mostly wound upwards doing guest spots on television series. Ford subsequently recalled that 1 of his biggest fears at that signal was that he would become too well-known as a invitee star, and that would eventually kill whatever gamble he had at a film career.
In 1970, Ford (who by this point now had two sons with Marquardt) purchased a domicile in the Hollywood Hills for his growing family. It was a real fixer-upper, and he decided to handle the repairs himself, learning carpentry courtesy of the Encino Public Library. Ford soon became enamored by carpentry, noting:
To me, one of the attractions of carpentry is that information technology'due south simple and logical. You get-go at 1 place and step by step you end up with the finished production. It's a functional scientific discipline, and it becomes a form of meditation - the listen is absorbed in uncomplicated tasks, you are no longer wrestling within your heed.
Ford's first large carpentry job was building a $100,000 studio for Brazilian ring leader Sergio Mendes. Soon he was known equally the "carpenter to the stars." Along the style, yet, he never lost sight of his desire to however exist an actor. Carpentry was basically a way for him to avoid having to take roles he didn't want, like many of those invitee-star appearances.
Ford appeared in a pocket-sized but notable office in George Lucas' 1973 comedy-drama "American Graffiti" (he'due south the closest it comes to having a villain). The movie was a surprise striking, but it didn't event in much of an comeback in his acting career. The producer of "American Graffiti," Francis Ford Coppola, gave Ford small roles in his 1974 thriller "The Chat" and in "Apocalypse Now" (Ford filmed his part in 1976, simply the film wasn't release until 1979, by which time he was already a star). Merely by 1976, carpentry had become his primary job (Coppola fifty-fifty hired him to practice some carpentry piece of work).
Luckily, Fred Roos wasn't near to give upwards on Ford. A producer besides as the casting manager on "The Godfather" and "American Graffiti," Roos became a proficient friend of Ford and was always trying to assistance the player's career.
In 1976, Lucas was casting for his next film, "Star Wars." His process was an interesting one: Rather than cast each actor individually, he wanted to see how they would do as a group. He'd have different groups of Leia, Luke and Han collaborate with each other. As it turned out, however, he had v Leias and five Lukes, merely he only iv Hans. In stepped Roos, letting Lucas know that Ford was bachelor. So Lucas agreed to bring in Ford, but but for the sake of giving the Luke and the Leia of that group someone to read lines with (I don't know who his initial group was, equally I believe Lucas mixed and matched as he went forth, wanting to see how the actors would piece of work in different configurations).
In the aforementioned Reddit AMA, Ford recalled the situation: "I had helped George Lucas audition other actors for the principle [sic] parts, and with no expectation or indication that I might exist considered for the part of Han, I was quite surprised when I was offered the role. My principle [sic] job at the time was carpentry."
Ford had 2 big strikes confronting him going into the line-reading. The first was the virtually obvious: He had been brought in just to read lines, non to audience for the part. The second was that Lucas was adamant nearly not re-using actors from "American Graffiti." (It'southward the same logic that led to resist casting Ford as Indiana Jones. Lucas didn't desire to have a stable of actors like, say, Martin Scorsese has a grouping of actors he works with a lot, like Robert De Niro.) Soon, though, at the urging of anybody around him (including his good friend, fellow director Steven Spielberg and, of course, Roos), Lucas began to seriously consider Ford for the office, as his line readings were continually better than the actors who were "actually" auditioning for the role.
Here is a scene from an audition with Ford every bit Han and Mark Hamill every bit Luke:
Finally, Lucas decided to tentatively go with Ford for Han. Fifty-fifty after that decision, though, Lucas began to doubt himself and reconsidered another immature player who had auditioned, Christopher Walken. In the end, he decided to offer Ford the role, and the residual is moving-picture show history.
The legend is...
STATUS : True
Cheers to Harrison Ford: The Films by Brad Duke for the Ford quotes.
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Well-nigh The Writer
Source: https://www.cbr.com/movie-legends-revealed-how-did-harrison-ford-accidentally-audition-for-star-wars/
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