A conversation in a playground
September 15, 2017 6:57 AM Subscribe
The Long Solo Flight of Harrison Ford | Since the dawn of Hollywood, no movie star has seemed to need stardom—or movies—less than Harrison Ford. Chris Heath crisscrosses the country with the 75-year-old legend to find out why indifference has made all the difference in the world.
This is as in-depth as the notoriously press-averse Ford gets. The interview, which took place over multiple weeks and in in multiple locations, is accompanied by a series of photos that perfectly capture Ford's status as the iconic elder statesman of the film industry. And unlike most GQ photo spreads, he's wearing all his own clothes. He's primarily promoting the new Blade Runner iteration, but all the bases are pretty much covered.
"As we sit here in his Santa Monica aircraft hangar, Ford's phone beeps with a text message telling him the new [Indy] script is ready for him to read. He hopes it might happen in the second half of next year. I ask him what this new Indiana Jones movie will need to be in order to have him fully engaged. “Funded,” he replies.
Previouslies
This is as in-depth as the notoriously press-averse Ford gets. The interview, which took place over multiple weeks and in in multiple locations, is accompanied by a series of photos that perfectly capture Ford's status as the iconic elder statesman of the film industry. And unlike most GQ photo spreads, he's wearing all his own clothes. He's primarily promoting the new Blade Runner iteration, but all the bases are pretty much covered.
"As we sit here in his Santa Monica aircraft hangar, Ford's phone beeps with a text message telling him the new [Indy] script is ready for him to read. He hopes it might happen in the second half of next year. I ask him what this new Indiana Jones movie will need to be in order to have him fully engaged. “Funded,” he replies.
Previouslies
in re Han Solo in "The Force Awakens":
“Not necessarily. But it was, you know, an interesting development of the character.”
QFT!
posted by chavenet at 7:19 AM on September 15, 2017 [2 favorites]
“Not necessarily. But it was, you know, an interesting development of the character.”
QFT!
posted by chavenet at 7:19 AM on September 15, 2017 [2 favorites]
He's got a good mindset about it, never seemed to get drawn into the circus of the movie biz. I recall one interview where he says he never watches his own movies (and I heard Dame Judi Dench say the same thing yesterday on NPR.. ). I like the first lead quote:
“I've been very, very lucky. Extraordinarily lucky. Many, many people with, you know, more brains, more talent, cuter, have not had the luck that I've had.”posted by k5.user at 7:23 AM on September 15, 2017 [10 favorites]
I love that he got his ear pierced at Claire's. That's just wonderful.
posted by uncleozzy at 7:24 AM on September 15, 2017 [17 favorites]
posted by uncleozzy at 7:24 AM on September 15, 2017 [17 favorites]
This interviewer does a tremendous job. I've heard/seen/read so many painful interviews with Ford, but this is great.
1) Love the bit about his youngest son killing him in his sleep.
2) “I've been accused, usually by women in my life, of being unreflective.” - That's probably the most revealing thing Ford has ever said in an interview.
3) So happy to hear that Ford appreciates and stands up for the ambiguity in Blade Runner. It makes me a little more hopeful about the sequel.
4) Ford wears his own t-shirt in the photo shoot here, which appears to be the same outfit he is wearing in the Blade Runner 2049 trailer, adding weight to my theory that he just showed up on set and insisted on filming in whatever he was wearing.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 7:33 AM on September 15, 2017 [17 favorites]
1) Love the bit about his youngest son killing him in his sleep.
2) “I've been accused, usually by women in my life, of being unreflective.” - That's probably the most revealing thing Ford has ever said in an interview.
3) So happy to hear that Ford appreciates and stands up for the ambiguity in Blade Runner. It makes me a little more hopeful about the sequel.
4) Ford wears his own t-shirt in the photo shoot here, which appears to be the same outfit he is wearing in the Blade Runner 2049 trailer, adding weight to my theory that he just showed up on set and insisted on filming in whatever he was wearing.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 7:33 AM on September 15, 2017 [17 favorites]
When I interviewed Ryan Gosling for GQ last November, he was in Budapest to film Blade Runner 2049, and he explained how Ford had inadvertently punched him in the face during a fight scene. I wanted to give Ford the opportunity to present his own account of the same incident.posted by Sangermaine at 7:39 AM on September 15, 2017 [53 favorites]
“I punched Ryan Gosling in the face,” Ford confirms. Then he adds, by way of clarification, that “Ryan Gosling's face was where it should not have been.”
Explain further, if you will.
“His job was to be out of the range of the punch. My job was also to make sure that I pulled the punch. But we were moving, and the camera was moving, so I had to be aware of the angle to the camera to make the punch look good. You know, I threw about a hundred punches in the shooting of it, and I only hit him once.”
So he should be grateful?
“I have pointed that out.”
And the one that did connect—that's 100 percent his fault?
“No.” Ford makes as though he's carefully weighing this. “I mean, I suppose it's 90 percent his fault.”
That is very—
“—generous of me.”
He said you went to his dressing room with a bottle of scotch…
“I did.”
…and poured him a glass, then walked out with the bottle.
“Yeah? What—did he fucking expect the whole bottle? You know, I figured one drink would fix it. That was enough.”
So did that epitomize your working relationship?
“Pretty much. No, he was fun to work with. I like him a lot. He's a smart guy. I mean, he's a fucking Mouseketeer—he's been doing this since he was 6 years old or something. He knows what he's doing.”
It's got to be hard to write about Ford without mentioning that he's apparently high all the time.
posted by maxsparber at 7:49 AM on September 15, 2017 [18 favorites]
posted by maxsparber at 7:49 AM on September 15, 2017 [18 favorites]
Dude knows how to dress.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:54 AM on September 15, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:54 AM on September 15, 2017 [3 favorites]
It's got to be hard to write about Ford without mentioning that he's apparently high all the time.
"Fri-ta-ta"
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 8:07 AM on September 15, 2017 [12 favorites]
"Fri-ta-ta"
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 8:07 AM on September 15, 2017 [12 favorites]
It's got to be hard to write about Ford without mentioning that he's apparently high all the time.
They talk about his fondness for aviation, though.
Also, I shall think of him from this day on as Kurt Affair.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:13 AM on September 15, 2017 [5 favorites]
They talk about his fondness for aviation, though.
Also, I shall think of him from this day on as Kurt Affair.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:13 AM on September 15, 2017 [5 favorites]
I punched Ryan Gosling in the face/Ryan Gosling's face was where it should not have been is a little couplet that's been dancing round my head that last couple of days.
posted by cottoncandybeard at 8:18 AM on September 15, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by cottoncandybeard at 8:18 AM on September 15, 2017 [3 favorites]
That was a really entertaining interview. Thanks for posting it, I love bananas.
posted by straight at 8:31 AM on September 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by straight at 8:31 AM on September 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
I just exploded in laughter at his father pointing his finger at the wrong angle. Oh, dear Zeus, I can barely breathe. I'm glad I was alone...explaining my outburst would only have made things worse.
posted by Cobalt at 8:35 AM on September 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Cobalt at 8:35 AM on September 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
That was great. He really has no fucks left.
posted by octothorpe at 8:42 AM on September 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by octothorpe at 8:42 AM on September 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
no movie star has seemed to need stardom—or movies—less than Harrison Ford.
Garbo.
posted by BWA at 8:52 AM on September 15, 2017 [2 favorites]
Garbo.
posted by BWA at 8:52 AM on September 15, 2017 [2 favorites]
God this is a good read. What I'd give to have a beer with him at a small-town airport bar.
“I suppose they were doing their thing. But their thing was not close enough to my thing to be negotiable.”
posted by ZaphodB at 8:55 AM on September 15, 2017 [5 favorites]
“I suppose they were doing their thing. But their thing was not close enough to my thing to be negotiable.”
posted by ZaphodB at 8:55 AM on September 15, 2017 [5 favorites]
He has a grouchiness that's kind of like a charisma all its ownIt's funny. In every Ford quote I read I hear the vaguely exasperated voice of Ford/Indiana Jones and I mentally picture him rubbing his jaw as he speaks.
Ford makes appearances in Tracey Daugherty's bio of Joan Didion, The Last Love Song. He worked on Didion's house when she and Dunne moved to Malibu in 1971.
"Off and on, for over six months, the Dunnes engaged a construction crew to expand the waterside deck, install waxed pine bookshelves, and lay terracotta floor tiles. The men tore out prefabricated plywood walls and pulled up 'icky green' flooring. Harrison Ford headed the crew. 'They were the most sophisticated people I knew,' Ford said. 'I was the first thing they saw in the morning and the last thing they saw before cocktails.'"But they'd known each other before that. Earlier Daugherty writes,
"What made a good party back then? 'Harrison,' Eve Babitz told me."posted by octobersurprise at 8:58 AM on September 15, 2017 [2 favorites]
no movie star has seemed to need stardom—or movies—less than Harrison Ford.
He has one or two too many crappy romantic comedies on the CV in the 1990s-2000s for me to swallow this whole.
posted by biffa at 9:09 AM on September 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
He has one or two too many crappy romantic comedies on the CV in the 1990s-2000s for me to swallow this whole.
posted by biffa at 9:09 AM on September 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
It's got to be hard to write about Ford without mentioning that he's apparently high all the time.
What makes you say that?
I punched Ryan Gosling in the face/Ryan Gosling's face was where it should not have been is a little couplet that's been dancing round my head that last couple of days.
He's right about that, too; that wasn't a dodge to diss Ryan Gosling. Stage combat and stunt fighting is just as much about the person who receives a punch/blow/etc. knowing to not have their face/body in the wrong place. Those things are super-tightly choreographed, with both actors having to have control over the situation - the actor who's throwing the punch is supposed to be in control enough that their punch stops here and not there, and the actor who's RECEIVING the punch is supposed to be in control enough that their face is supposed to be here and not there. The choreography is even supposed to take into account what happens if one or the other goofs and puts their fist or face in the wrong place.
It's hard to say whose fuckup it was without seeing what happened - Ryan could have been closer than he thought, Harrison could have put a little more spin on his fist than he thought he did, it could have been both. But that description of "his face was where it wasn't supposed to be" wasn't just being cute, it's actually what a lot of stage combat choreographers would say of the situation too.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:13 AM on September 15, 2017 [2 favorites]
What makes you say that?
I punched Ryan Gosling in the face/Ryan Gosling's face was where it should not have been is a little couplet that's been dancing round my head that last couple of days.
He's right about that, too; that wasn't a dodge to diss Ryan Gosling. Stage combat and stunt fighting is just as much about the person who receives a punch/blow/etc. knowing to not have their face/body in the wrong place. Those things are super-tightly choreographed, with both actors having to have control over the situation - the actor who's throwing the punch is supposed to be in control enough that their punch stops here and not there, and the actor who's RECEIVING the punch is supposed to be in control enough that their face is supposed to be here and not there. The choreography is even supposed to take into account what happens if one or the other goofs and puts their fist or face in the wrong place.
It's hard to say whose fuckup it was without seeing what happened - Ryan could have been closer than he thought, Harrison could have put a little more spin on his fist than he thought he did, it could have been both. But that description of "his face was where it wasn't supposed to be" wasn't just being cute, it's actually what a lot of stage combat choreographers would say of the situation too.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:13 AM on September 15, 2017 [2 favorites]
Oh, and -
> no movie star has seemed to need stardom—or movies—less than Harrison Ford.
He has one or two too many crappy romantic comedies on the CV in the 1990s-2000s for me to swallow this whole.
He went through a divorce in 2001. Those romantic comedies may have been more about a need to pay alimony than a need for stardom.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:16 AM on September 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
> no movie star has seemed to need stardom—or movies—less than Harrison Ford.
He has one or two too many crappy romantic comedies on the CV in the 1990s-2000s for me to swallow this whole.
He went through a divorce in 2001. Those romantic comedies may have been more about a need to pay alimony than a need for stardom.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:16 AM on September 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
He has one or two too many crappy romantic comedies on the CV in the 1990s-2000s for me to swallow this whole.
Ford has never been shy about saying he's done movies simply for the pay cheque.
posted by Ashwagandha at 9:29 AM on September 15, 2017
Ford has never been shy about saying he's done movies simply for the pay cheque.
posted by Ashwagandha at 9:29 AM on September 15, 2017
My mother, who was a scenester in L.A in the mid to to late 70s, refuses to see any Harrison Ford movie because, and I quote "he's a dick."
posted by The Whelk at 9:31 AM on September 15, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 9:31 AM on September 15, 2017 [4 favorites]
What makes you say that?
How Harrison Ford's 'Brutal Strength' Weed Changed Carrie Fisher's Opinion On Pot
Were Shia LaBeouf And Harrison Ford Stoned To the Bone While Shooting 'Indy 4'?
The Best Harrison Ford Stoner Story You Are Ever Likely To Hear
posted by maxsparber at 9:35 AM on September 15, 2017 [5 favorites]
How Harrison Ford's 'Brutal Strength' Weed Changed Carrie Fisher's Opinion On Pot
Were Shia LaBeouf And Harrison Ford Stoned To the Bone While Shooting 'Indy 4'?
The Best Harrison Ford Stoner Story You Are Ever Likely To Hear
posted by maxsparber at 9:35 AM on September 15, 2017 [5 favorites]
There are very few subjects about which Harrison Ford easily volunteers information, but it turns out frittatas are one of them.
I have very rare actor/celebrity crushes. Harrison Ford was one of the earliest and most enduring, after I saw Star Wars in 1977 when I was 9. I saw everything he made up through Sabrina, I think? Then he got too old for me - heh.
I have a lot of affection for him for giving young me Han Solo, Indiana Jones, and Rick Deckard to dream about.
posted by Squeak Attack at 9:42 AM on September 15, 2017
I have very rare actor/celebrity crushes. Harrison Ford was one of the earliest and most enduring, after I saw Star Wars in 1977 when I was 9. I saw everything he made up through Sabrina, I think? Then he got too old for me - heh.
I have a lot of affection for him for giving young me Han Solo, Indiana Jones, and Rick Deckard to dream about.
posted by Squeak Attack at 9:42 AM on September 15, 2017
I remember an interview with Carrie Fisher after her last book came out. They asked her if she and Ford had ever discussed the affair after it ended. She said she had brought it up once in conversation, decades later. According to her, he said, "Well, er..." and that was it.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:20 AM on September 15, 2017
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:20 AM on September 15, 2017
How Harrison Ford's 'Brutal Strength' Weed Changed Carrie Fisher's Opinion On Pot
Don't miss the link in that article to a piece about Cary Grant's LSD experiences.
posted by Iridic at 11:42 AM on September 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
Don't miss the link in that article to a piece about Cary Grant's LSD experiences.
posted by Iridic at 11:42 AM on September 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
The mention of early Ford movies left out The Conversation. Might be interesting to hear him talk about Coppola.
Ford also appears in a documentary about the Beaver (the airplane) which he likes a lot. He likes flying and it's fun to listen to him talk about it.
posted by CCBC at 3:18 PM on September 15, 2017
Ford also appears in a documentary about the Beaver (the airplane) which he likes a lot. He likes flying and it's fun to listen to him talk about it.
posted by CCBC at 3:18 PM on September 15, 2017
He went through a divorce in 2001. Those romantic comedies may have been more about a need to pay alimony than a need for stardom.
Doesn't justify Sabrina (1999), Random Hearts (1998) or the horror of Six Days, Seven Nights (1995).
posted by biffa at 4:00 PM on September 15, 2017
Doesn't justify Sabrina (1999), Random Hearts (1998) or the horror of Six Days, Seven Nights (1995).
posted by biffa at 4:00 PM on September 15, 2017
Doesn't justify Sabrina (1999) ...
Haven't watched it since I saw it in the theater, but I remember being entertained by Sabrina. I mean, it's a fluffy rom com, and it's not the original, and I guess one could argue that it didn't need to be remade at all. But given that it was, I don't remember anything especially appalling about it.
I never saw the other two, but I imagine the bills needed to be paid.
posted by octobersurprise at 5:59 PM on September 15, 2017
Haven't watched it since I saw it in the theater, but I remember being entertained by Sabrina. I mean, it's a fluffy rom com, and it's not the original, and I guess one could argue that it didn't need to be remade at all. But given that it was, I don't remember anything especially appalling about it.
I never saw the other two, but I imagine the bills needed to be paid.
posted by octobersurprise at 5:59 PM on September 15, 2017
Oh god, Six Days, Seven Nights. Ford and Heche just had negative chemistry in that one.
posted by octothorpe at 6:06 PM on September 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by octothorpe at 6:06 PM on September 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
Oh man, Working Girl! He's so good in that one. Did he ever do light comedy so well in anything else?
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 7:30 PM on September 15, 2017
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 7:30 PM on September 15, 2017
He is coming to Boston to pick up an aviation award
O_o
Amazingly not the John Denver Trophy.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 7:51 PM on September 15, 2017
O_o
Amazingly not the John Denver Trophy.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 7:51 PM on September 15, 2017
This has sent me down a Harrison Ford hunt on Youtube. Some faves:
Him blowing Benedict Cumberbatch's mind on the Graham Norton show by praising SHERLOCK.
Benedict Cumberbatch blowing his mind back with a Chewbacca imitation.
Him using a visual aid to show Jimmy Fallon about his on-set injury (and taking out some aggression in the process).
Him doing an entire interview while being dressed up like a hot dog. (He is apparently super into Halloween.)
And -
Honestly, this is the best reaction to David Blaine that has ever been.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:29 PM on September 15, 2017 [2 favorites]
Him blowing Benedict Cumberbatch's mind on the Graham Norton show by praising SHERLOCK.
Benedict Cumberbatch blowing his mind back with a Chewbacca imitation.
Him using a visual aid to show Jimmy Fallon about his on-set injury (and taking out some aggression in the process).
Him doing an entire interview while being dressed up like a hot dog. (He is apparently super into Halloween.)
And -
Honestly, this is the best reaction to David Blaine that has ever been.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:29 PM on September 15, 2017 [2 favorites]
My mother, who was a scenester in L.A in the mid to to late 70s, refuses to see any Harrison Ford movie because, and I quote "he's a dick."
I had a really long conversation on twitter the other day about how much this interview rubbed me the wrong way, and about how Harrison Ford's various personas are the epitomy of a certain kind of toxic masculinity that very rarely finds itself under any kind of scrutiny. This GQ article, not surprisingly, is all over it-- he's laconic, he's stoic, he doesn't give a fuck, he "doesn't suffer fools", he's a dick and that's wonderful because we respect and praise white men for being emotionally repressed and casually cruel. Harrison has spent his entire life embodying this kind of grouchy, emotionally withholding "son I am disappoint" masculinity. His charm, in most of his serious roles and all of his romcom ones, is the idea that under this hard shell of going through life treating the people who have failed to impress you like shit, there's a tender and deeply caring soul who will finally be revealed, a man who cares about the people in his life as much, if not more, than he dismisses or is cruel to them. I haven't read all of "Princess Diaries," but I did read an excerpt about a teenaged Carrie Fisher throwing herself up against Ford's emotional wall over and over and over again, desperate for some kind of positive attention from the married guy who was fucking her, desperate to connect with the depths that she was so sure would be unlocked for her if she only proved herself worthy of them. If you never share the kind part of you, does it matter if it's really there or not? We worship men who are serious workers and who are out of fucks to give, and we don't usually like to think that "doesn't give a fuck" isn't a protective pose, it's real-- these men really do not care about the impact they have on the people around them. IDK what to say. Treating people like that isn't okay. White guys making an entire life out of reaping the social benefits of Hemingway style shitty behavior isn't okay. If your reaction to sitting across the street from an elementary school with another man is to make a gay pedophiles joke, you are a dick. If you cheat on your wife with a nineteen year old, and then treat that nineteen year old like shit, you are a dick. Acting proud of accidentally punching a younger romcom actor in the face because you don't respect Mouseketeers is a dick move. For a certain type of man who gets venerated for being unkind, there isn't much functional difference in "doesn't suffer fools" and "makes everyone around you suffer." I can't tell how much of this is Harrison the person vs Harrison the cultivated persona and public character, but the fawning all over that persona in this article, ugh.
posted by moonlight on vermont at 10:17 PM on September 15, 2017 [17 favorites]
It's got to be hard to write about Ford without mentioning that he's apparently high all the time
I have also heard this, directly, from someone who is also high all the time and who, uh, got him high.
posted by louche mustachio at 3:32 AM on September 16, 2017 [1 favorite]
I know it is as much acting as anything in a movie, but Ford manages a nice persona in interviews that make him appear pretty normal and pleasant, someone you wouldn't mind drinking a beer with. In reality he's probably a total dick, but I'll never meet him so that isn't really relevant.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:20 AM on September 16, 2017
posted by Dip Flash at 5:20 AM on September 16, 2017
I have also heard this, directly, from someone who is also high all the time and who, uh, got him high.
Shit, maybe that's his secret? I wish I could be high all the time and look as good as Ford does at 75.
posted by octobersurprise at 7:17 AM on September 16, 2017
Shit, maybe that's his secret? I wish I could be high all the time and look as good as Ford does at 75.
posted by octobersurprise at 7:17 AM on September 16, 2017
Can you guys imagine how uh, pleasant he would be if he wasn't high all the time?
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:40 AM on September 16, 2017
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:40 AM on September 16, 2017
Acting proud of accidentally punching a younger romcom actor in the face because you don't respect Mouseketeers
I agree with everything else you said, but I'm pretty sure that's not what he was saying.
He's a smart guy. I mean, he's a fucking Mouseketeer—he's been doing this since he was 6 years old or something. He knows what he's doing.
It reads to me like referencing Gosling’s experience as a Mouseketeer is a way of emphasizing that he's been in the business since he was a small child.
In stage combat, the person receiving a blow needs to do at least as much work as the person giving it. So, the accident was *partly* Gosling's fault, and an actor with 30 years experience, who's been acting basically as far back as he can remember, understands that.
Saying that an ex-Mouseketeer is smart and knows what he's doing just doesn't sound like disrespect to me, given the context.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:45 AM on September 16, 2017 [2 favorites]
There are several states right now (Jeff Sessons' instincts notwithstanding) where you can attempt exact this!
Unfortunately, I won't look like Harrison Ford.
posted by octobersurprise at 11:51 AM on September 16, 2017
Unfortunately, I won't look like Harrison Ford.
posted by octobersurprise at 11:51 AM on September 16, 2017
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