Harrison Ford Strikes Back

June 25, 2002
Entertainment Tonight Online

HARRISON FORD says he's "disappointed" about the way his personal life has become fodder for the tabloids since his split from screenwriter MELISSA MATHISON, his wife of almost 20 years. The star of the amiable 'Indiana Jones' movies says the relentless coverage linking him to various starlets, from MINNIE DRIVER to CALISTA FLOCKHART, even makes him "occasionally angry."

"There's no test of truth to what's written anymore and that's too bad," the veteran actor tells ET in a new interview.

Harrison opened up about the media headlines while talking about his new film, 'K-19: The Widowmaker,' a real-life nuclear submarine thriller opening in theaters July 19. In the movie, Ford plays the unyielding captain of the Soviet Union's first nuclear ballistic sub during the height of the Cold War.

On its maiden voyage in the deep waters of the North Atlantic, the vessel's nuclear reactor malfunctions. Ford and his second-in-command (played by LIAM NEESON) try to put aside their personal differences to find a way to save the sub and its crew -- and avert nuclear war.

"The circumstances are real. The characters are fiction," says Ford. "The relationship between the character I play and the character Liam plays is a dramatic invention to bring the thematics of the film to life and to heighten the drama. But it's not based on the real captain of K-19 or his personality."

This is Ford's first non-American character, and he speaks with a Russian accent in the film. The actor went to Russia twice before filming, where he met and interviewed the survivors of the real K-19 submarine. The film also hired a Russian technical advisor and a full-time dialogue coach. But unlike his previous action adventures, 'K-19' marks the first time Ford has acted as executive producer.

"[Director] KATHERINE BIGELOW had developed this project over five or six years and I got a script which I thought was very good, but there were a lot of choices to be made," he explains. "So I became involved as a producer, because I wanted to share in those decisions."

Ford says the movie is a testament to the real men and circumstances of K-19.

"It's a tough film," he says. " It's very dramatic. It's powerful. It requires a little thinking from the audience."

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