Harrison Ford, one of the biggest actors in Hollywood, starred in some extraordinary franchises including Star Wars and Indiana Jones. However, the actor seemed to be more invested in Steven Spielberg’s franchise when he wanted to kill his character in Star Wars.
Ford played Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones, Jr. in Spielberg’s acclaimed movie franchise and surely the actor was quite happy about playing the character. But what about Han Solo? Ford’s Star Wars character also gained immense popularity over the years but he was very skeptical about Han Solo.
Harrison Ford Was Invested in Indiana Jones For a Reason
Indiana Jones is undoubtedly one of the biggest franchises of Harrison Ford’s career. The actor has reprised the character in 5 movies in the franchise, four of which were directed by Steven Spielberg. Ford played the character one last time in James Mangold-directed the fifth installment of the movie series. Speaking with Yahoo! Entertainment, the actor revealed why he kept coming back to the franchise.
“One thing I asked for in each of them was to further embrace a complication of the character. I wanted to know more about Indiana Jones. I wanted the things that he did to be generated out of his character, out of his nature, out of his experience. I didn’t want it just to be pinned on like a merit badge,” Ford said.
Ford further stated the reason behind his big ask to the directors of the franchise. “I wanted these films to inspire people, to make them laugh, to make them cry,” he said.
“And so for me it’s been just an unbelievable experience to have this opportunity. And the last one, I wanted to be about character. I wanted it to be about what it’s like to be an older archeologist.”
The Franchise’s fifth movie, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny did not perform well as expected but fans have embraced the last ride of Ford as Indiana Jones.
Harrison Ford Was Not Fond of Han Solo
Other than Indiana Jones, his Star Wars character Han Solo had a big impact on his life. In fact, Han Solo shaped his career. However, Ford was never fond of the character. Ford agreed to appear in the entire trilogy but the cloud of skepticism was always lucking above his head. Speaking of his character, Ford said:
“I thought Han Solo should die. I thought he ought to sacrifice himself for the other two characters[Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa]. I said,’ He’s got no mama, he’s got no papa, he’s got no future. He has no story responsibilities at this point so let’s allow him to commit self-sacrifice,’” (via Den of Geek).
Further, Ford believed that it would make perfect sense to kill off Han Solo in the original trilogy. “It was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,” Ford said in an episode of Late Night with Conan O’Brien.
“I thought the best utility of the character would be for him to sacrifice himself to a high ideal and give a little bottom, a little gravitas to the enterprise, not that there wasn’t some already but I just wanted in on some part of it. That was at the third occasion of filming the original three,” he added.
Han Solo was finally killed off in The Force Awakens, perhaps, the relief for Ford, he could finally say goodbye to the character.
