“I wasn’t very sociable”: Harrison Ford’s distaste for movie stardom

Harrison Ford is at the heart of cherished franchises like Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Consequently, with the weight amassed from the cult of celebrity, Ford has somewhat harnessed a pejorative reputation in the industry, potentially due to his honesty in interviews and willingness to speak beyond the voice of a fictional character. But as a star many younger film fans look up to, would it not be unfair to them to suggest that even a ‘dream job’ does not come without downsides?

Before lightsabers and fedoras, Chicago-born Ford made a winking appearance in the 1996 crime film Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round, where his modest line “paging Mr Ellis” and his signing in Columbia Pictures’ then talent programme would gain further credited appearances arising sooner rather than later. Moreover, it was an unexpected hiatus from these poor-paying roles that would lead Ford to take up carpentry as a full-time venture, eventually bridging him back to the silver screen when introduced to director Francis Ford Coppola on a project before being recommended to none other than George Lucas. 

With the actor entering Hollywood by chance, it is sensical to discover that the newfound lifestyle had become challenging to juggle, leading Ford to see the unfortunate ‘dark side’ of fame. Becoming Han Solo in 1977, Ford subsequently remarried three times before his final starring in Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, previously telling The Guardian, “Sometimes I think I have been a better actor than husband or father. I had to leave my family behind in order to make money for us to eat”. 

While it would appear that confidence is a prerequisite to becoming an actor, this has not always been the case for Ford. “I wasn’t very sociable,” Ford says of his school days. “One of the things I found with acting was something I could do with people because I didn’t like competitive sports,” he adds, tracing that with putting on a mask comes a greater ease in pressurised situations.

“I could scare the bejesus out of people, but my own knees were knocking,” he added.

Evidently unafraid to be vulnerable, such bravery should be acclaimed on the Walk of Fame, benefitting Ford’s roles as a cowboy and imperial pilot. Alas, within Hollywood, honesty is not an attribute that goes hand-in-hand with the profits to be made in blockbuster fiction and method acting.

Asked whether he believes in the notion of doing something one is afraid of in the face of self-improvement, Ford responded, “I don’t identify with those things”. Again, a lesson to be passed on to the younger generation, straight from the mouth of an on-screen hero, the actor proves that his real ick for the industry comes when overstepping boundaries is romanticised as a mere symptom of fame.

Resolutely, Ford expresses, “I’m not interested in being scared anymore. When you get scared, you close up, and it’s all about opening up”. And in his honesty, he harnesses the fight to keep doing what he loves, navigating the toxic traits of an industry so built on perfect role models. Just as Han Solo once said, “That’s not how the force works”.