Most know Harrison Ford as the globe-trotting adventurer, Indiana Jones. However, the actor’s filmography has much more to offer than just one iconic role. For example, Harrison Ford was part of a film in 1982, directed by Ridley Scott, which is still considered one of the finest science fiction films of all time, Blade Runner.
However, Harrison Ford did not really have the best time working on Blade Runner. In fact, he found himself locking horns with the director. When Ridley Scott decided to incorporate the voiceover element into his film, Harrison Ford was totally against it and developed bad blood with Ridley Scott for making him do the narration.
Harrison Ford Did Not Enjoy Filming Blade Runner
Blade Runner, upon its release, received mixed reviews from critics and didn’t do well at the box office at all. However, the coming years went on to make Ridley Scott’s masterpiece a cult classic that is still hailed in the sci-fi genre. While Blade Runner might be among sci-fi lovers’ favorite films, it certainly isn’t the case for Harrison Ford.
He once stated, “Blade Runner is not one of my favourite films. I tangled with Ridley.” One of the reasons why Ford and Scott locked horns was because of the film’s voiceovers, which the former thought was absolutely unnecessary as viewers could easily understand the concept by simply watching the film. In a 1992 interview (via Vice), Ford stated,
“When we started shooting, it had been tacitly agreed that the version of the film that we had agreed upon was the version without voiceover narration. It was a f*cking nightmare. I thought that the film had worked without the narration. But now I was stuck re-creating that narration. And I was obliged to do the voiceovers for people that did not represent the director’s interests.”
In another interview, this time with Empire in 2006, Ford stated, “What I remember more than anything else when I see Blade Runner is not the fifty nights of shooting in the rain, but the voiceover…I was still obliged to work for these clowns that came in writing one bad voiceover after another.” Yikes! Those are some harsh words.
On the other hand, Scott wasn’t too happy with Ford, either. Talking to BBC the filmmaker called the actor a “pain in the arse” to work with. While they did clash back in the day, things have gotten better between the two and there is no longer any bad blood in that relationship.
Harrison Ford Had a Much Better Time on Blade Runner 2049
Thirty-five years later, Blade Runner finally got a proper sequel, which was directed by Denis Villeneuve. The film stars Ryan Gosling in the lead role along with Harrison Ford reprising his role. While talking to K5, Ford was asked what it was like making Blade Runner 2049. Calling it a walk in the park, Ford replied,
“A walk in the park. First of all, [for Blade Runner] we shot fifty nights in the rain on the back lot of Warner Brothers. It turns a lot of people into vampires, me among them. It was a hard movie to make. This one was more civilized, just slightly more civilized.”
We are glad Blade Runner 2049 was not a “f*cking nightmare” for Ford like the first one was.
You can rent/buy Blade Runner from Prime Video and Blade Runner 2049 is available to stream on Netflix.
Source: Vice
