For decades now, Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford have brought out the best in each other and their collaboration has given birth to one of the most beloved characters and franchises in fiction. Although all of their collaborations were limited to the Indiana Jones franchise, several projects in Spielberg’s filmography almost saw the Blade Runner star as the lead.
Apart from E.T. and Jurassic Park, which initially saw the Indiana Jones star as the frontrunner to lead these huge blockbusters, the actor was allegedly considered for Spielberg’s most personal project.
Steven Spielberg’s reasoning for not involving Harrison Ford in Schindler’s List
Among the long list of critically acclaimed and commercially successful gems that Steven Spielberg has crafted, one of his most personal projects was 1993’s Schindler’s List. Considering the film was dealing with one of the harshest incidents in mankind’s history, Spielberg was adamant about doing justice to this project and the character of Oskar Schindler, who saves his Jewish employees.
But before the Jaws director brought Liam Neeson into the mix, reports alleged that he initially considered Harrison Ford for the role. Rumors claimed the actor turned down the offer as he felt that a non-Jewish star should be cast in the role. Although the director didn’t tackle the topic directly, he did explain that he never wanted a big movie star in this project to begin with. He explained,
“I didn’t want the distraction of a whole bunch of other movies to cloud this one. It would have been easy, I had the movie stars coming to me for this part. I just didn’t want to go that way.”
Spielberg’s decision to not include big names in this film did work out in his favor, as the film is now widely considered the director’s greatest work, and it also gave Liam Neeson’s career a huge boost.
Also read: Harrison Ford Demanded Gary Oldman Assault Him in $315M Movie: “You don’t want to hurt somebody”
Harrison Ford almost missed out on another Steven Spielberg classic
Despite missing out on several iconic projects of Steven Spielberg, Harrison Ford remained at the forefront of one of the most beloved franchises led by the Jaws director. However, it seems the actor almost lost this Indiana Jones too, as initially, Spielberg had his eyes set on Tom Selleck for the role of the archaeologist. But due to the actor’s commitment to another TV show, Wallace eventually missed out and Ford was able to grab the opportunity and kickstart his bond with Spielberg.
Although the Blade Runner star did not make it to 1993’s Schindler’s List, in a beautiful moment, the actor did go on to present the Oscar for Best Picture to Spielberg for the film.
Schindler’s List is available to stream on Apple TV.
Source: Inside Film
