DBWI: Harrison Ford as Han Solo and Indiana Jones

[MNM041]

It's wild to think that a guy ended up missing out on two massive roles, just because the director didn't feel like casting him.

Alright, let me elaborate: apparently, Harrison Ford, whom George Lucas worked on American Graffiti, was brought on to help do test readings for other actors. The studios asked Lucas to consider casting him as Han Solo, whom he frequently read the lines for, but Lucas insisted finding someone else and the roll was eventually given to Steve Martin. Of course, since Martin played the roguish Han Solo so well it practically altered the trajectory of his career, it is hard to see anyone else in the world but him

Fast forward to when casting was being done for Raider of The Lost Ark. The studio even wanted Lucas and Spielberg to consider casting him after it looked like Tom Selleck would have to drop out due to his commitments with Magnum PI. Honestly, I think if Ford did get the part they would have had to have cast someone else to play Indy's father, Sean Connery and Selleck genuinely looked like they could be related.

 

[kirbopher15]

So pretty much real life

 

[Amadeus]

Ford would have become one of the biggest stars in the world instead of an obscure supporting actor known mostly to cinephiles for his work in "Apocalypse Now" and "American Graffiti." IOTL Ford's acting career never really picked up steam and he returning to carpentry in the late 1980s. According to Wikipedia he became one of the highest paid carpenters in California and later started his own business, which made him a multimillionaire.

 

[MNM041]

Ford would have become one of the biggest stars in the world instead of an obscure supporting actor known mostly to cinephiles for his work in "Apocalypse Now" and "American Graffiti." IOTL Ford's acting career never really picked up steam and he returning to carpentry in the late 1980s. According to Wikipedia he became one of the highest paid carpenters in California and later started his own business, which made him a multimillionaire.

Well, I suppose that's nothing to sneeze at.

 

[Pelranius]

Ford is the pioneer of durable modular construction, which has really cut down on the costs (at least in terms of building the actual structure itself) for medium density apartment buildings.

 

[ennobee]

Still, I can't see Ford on any HGTV home improvement shows without thinking: "That's the cop that had that fantastic chemistry with Kelly McGillis in Witness". I sure wish he'd continued making police procedurals. He had a knack for that and as far as I am concerned, he still has.

 

[Amadeus]

Still, I can't see Ford on any HGTV home improvement shows without thinking: "That's the cop that had that fantastic chemistry with Kelly McGillis in Witness". I sure wish he'd continued making police procedurals. He had a knack for that and as far as I am concerned, he still has.

I think if Ford had played Solo and Jones, he might have won the Academy Award for "Witness" and that could have kept him relevant enough for his acting career to maintain momentum throughout the late 1980s and 1990s.

 

[Corjomc]

If Ford had gone into movies We would have never had his run as Jon Moore in Beyond Westworld.

The chemistry between Ford and his now Ex-wife, Connie Selleca, put the show over the top for what could have been a run of the mill, made for TV Scifi show.

William Katt joining the Show in 1982 as the sinister Professor Anton Fate was also a success. By then the original antagonist had lost any sense of being a threat. The cat and mouse game between Ford's Moore and Katt's Fate was Must See Tv. Also, having Selleca's character Pamela Williams having had an affair with Fate when She was one his students added a whole new dynamic to the series.

The 1983 finale with it's Holmes-Moriarty-esque final fight to the death between Moore and Fate was a huge hit.

So big in fact the Studio decided to make a 5th season . . . . Ford was no longer under contract.

Now the 5th season has been panned by many. Having Katt playing a Good robot copy of Professor Fate while also playing the miraculously, but horribly scarred, surviving real Professor Fate was an interesting twist but the show could not survive without Ford.

It was Westworld that pulled Ford out of his carpentry related retirement. As Michael Crichton was the writer/director behind Westworld it was his influence that got Ford to agree to play the role of Dr. Alan Grant in the Jurassic World Franchise in 1993.

Ford, Selleca, and Katt would reunite for the feature Film Westworld:1984.

 

[HARRY]

Harrison Ford, you mean the guy who was the subject of "Grass Castles" the tell all story of a humble carpenter who became the Cannabis King of Hollywood.

 

[ennobee]

Harrison Ford, you mean the guy who was the subject of "Grass Castles" the tell all story of a humble carpenter who became the Cannabis King of Hollywood.

No, that was Mathew McConaughey. Ford was the star of Hollywood Fixer-upper that managed to be on the receiving end of just enough drug busts to cultivate the persona of bad-ass and still keep his contract with HGTV.