May, 2008

Harrison Ford Interview: Ford in Focus

For Harrison Ford, there are bigger heroes than Indiana Jones -- and the greatest adventures are found close to home.

Readers Digest
By David Hochman

Indiana Jones and Getting Older

By now, more than three decades into his leading-man career, Harrison Ford has earned the right to be compared to Hollywood's all-time greats. At 65, he's a star in the tradition of Clark Gable or Gary Cooper-as rugged, clear-eyed, and dry-witted as the characters he plays. Ford's legacy includes some of the most beloved movies ever made, and six of the highest-grossing, including the Indiana Jones and Star Wars films. He has also worked hard behind the scenes on a number of pressing environmental issues. But it's his everyday aspect, starting with his lopsided grin and grumbled delivery, that makes him an audience favorite. Without Han Solo's questioning smirk, Star Wars might have been just another spaced-out fantasy.

This month, the actor picks up his trademark bullwhip for another crack at chasing treasure. After years of false starts, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will arrive in 4,000 U.S. theaters and be dubbed in more than two dozen languages. Ford recently sat down with Reader's Digest in Los Angeles and freely shared his feelings about stardom, money, and the maternal skills of his girlfriend, Calista Flockhart. In fact, this father of four loves having a child in his life again. "It's made me just a tiny bit less self-centered," he says. Now, that's a leading man.

RD: You've played so many heroes. Do you feel like a hero when you look in the mirror?

Ford: Decidedly not. And I haven't purposefully set out to play heroes. I'm interested in playing the character who finds himself in extraordinary circumstances. But he's really either just saving himself or acting in the service of something that's important to him.

RD: Who do you look at in the real world and say, "That's a hero"?

Ford: The people who devote themselves to serving humanity at the cost of being less comfortable and less protected than the rest of us. They are policemen, firemen, and those who bring to the attention of the world things that are critical to its health and well-being.

RD: You just finished your fourth turn as Indiana Jones. What was it like to put on that fedora again?

Ford: After 20 years, the costume still fit, which was encouraging. And the character came back with the clothes. I think some trace of Indiana still resides in that leather jacket, hat, and whip.

RD: What can't you do at 65 that you could do at 45?

Ford: Eat too much! Actually, I was able to do all the things that I did in the past, and maybe even more because of the advances that have been made in safe stunt work.

RD: That jacket, hat, and whip are in the Smithsonian. What is it that makes Indiana Jones so cool?

Ford: It's the places he goes and the extraordinary adventures he has. The audience loves the ride, the creepy-crawly things, the near misses, and the pursuit of evildoers.

RD: How has Calista Flockhart changed you as a person?

Ford: She's brought a child back into my home. My youngest, other than [Calista's son] Liam, is 17. It's a wonderful opportunity to be part of a child's growing up, which is always an endless springtime. You see the blossoming and the growing and the nurturing and the payoff.

RD: What kind of mother is Calista?

Ford: The best in the world. She's a mother by choice -- she adopted Liam before we met, as a single parent, which is an awesome responsibility to take. She's devoted herself to Liam and has done a really wonderful job raising him. I'm happy to now have a part of the job.

RD: Are you a different father to Liam than you were to your other four children, who are grown now?

Ford: Naturally enough, I'm a little bit more mature.

Conservation Efforts

RD: Do you think you are softer and gentler than you were in the past? Some people affectionately describe you as a bit of a grump.

Ford: I don't feel grumpy. I think it's a characterization for the sake of humor.

RD: You've worked with Conservation International for 15 years. Are you optimistic that we can solve issues like global warming?

Ford: Absolutely. Let me give you one example. Twenty percent of greenhouse gas emissions comes from the burning of croplands and deforestation. That's greater than the entire transportation sector, by a long shot. Burning the residue of a crop after it's been harvested is a widely practiced method in many parts of the world, but it's not productive. And if we can keep forests standing, they sequester carbon; they're the lungs of the planet.

RD: You have 800 acres in Wyoming. Is that in part to conserve the land?

Ford: It has a conservation easement on a good portion of it. I wanted to be steward of a piece of undisturbed land. It's my ambition to leave that behind.

RD: Can you describe your favorite spot on the property?

Ford: There's a walk to the Snake River that branches off through the cottonwood forest. It crosses a couple of streams. I can make that walk in my mind with spectacular detail. [The property] is teeming with wildlife.

RD: Do you feel a certain responsibility to be philanthropic because of who you are?

Ford: Not for who I am but for what I've come to have. When I came into an unseemly amount of money, I decided it would be appropriate to become involved in a variety of issues. But I don't much believe in celebrity spokesmen. I want to affect people's lives in more anonymous ways, though my pursuit of environmental issues has become well-known.

RD: Your movies have grossed $3 billion. Is money all it's cracked up to be?

Ford: Money is really only important if you don't have any.

RD: You don't have to work. What drives you to continue making movies?

Ford: I'm not a person who can occupy my time with recreation. I need a challenge. I need the intellectual stimulation. I'm a member of a community on each film, working in concert to try to bring an idea to life. It's a great job.

RD: Is there a piece of Jedi wisdom that you carry with you?

Ford: "May the Force be with you" is charming but not important. What's important is that you become the Force -- for yourself and perhaps for other people.

Harrison Ford's Favorites

RD: What's one movie that always makes you laugh?

Ford: Dumb and Dumber. I'm easy for comedy, unless it's based on hurting people.

RD: Junk food that's most irresistible to you?

Ford: I love the food off those taco trucks that are set up in Los Angeles wherever there's a lot of landscaping going on.

RD: What useless talent do you have that nobody knows about?

Ford: I have real chops at ironing.

RD: If you could take over one person's job for just a day, whose would it be?

Ford: I'd like to be George W. Bush, and boy, I'd get a lot done. You'd remember me for a long, long time.

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