Harrison Ford Takes On 'K-19: The Widowmaker'

July 17th, 2002
MadBlast
by Fred Topel

Harrison Ford’s latest film takes a bold perspective on the submarine genre. K-19: The Widowmaker makes heroes of a Russian crew on a Cold War mission. Based on a true story, the film tells of the maiden voyage of the ill-fated ship that suffered radiation leaks and almost caused a nuclear accident. Ford felt that the story was important to tell as a reflection of history.

“We were visiting a Pandora's Box that had been opened under Truman and the whole concept of balancing power obtained through mutually assured destruction, that's an idea that we should certainly think about and revisit often because it's not necessarily the best way of dealing with things,” Ford said. “I think that one of the things that was interesting to me was to not directly deal with or redress the situation where we demonize our enemies, but to understand. Men behave like men, regardless of political systems, and the same tensions and the same issues are obtained in different kinds of government. To me, what was interesting were the different theories of military leadership and the question of where moral responsibility lies when you're in charge, in military leadership.”

It was also the fact that little was known about the K-19 that attracted Ford. “I don't think that there is a lot of popular knowledge about this story, but [director] Kathryn [Bigelow] had worked for a number of years to develop this story for a number of years when it was brought to my attention.”

Once given the script, Ford accepted the additional role of executive producer to help see the project through to completion. “We all agreed that there was a lot of work to be done. I was committing as an actor to a project that was not yet shaped to the point where I would normally come in as an actor, so I wanted to have a hand in the work that was done. There's a name for that and apparently, sometimes, it's executive producer.”

Ford and Bigelow traveled to Russia to meet the survivors of the K-19, including the wife of the captain which Ford portrayed. He accepted their skepticism towards Hollywood and helped convince them of the noble intentions the filmmakers had towards their story.

“Why should they trust us? We’re a bunch of Hollywood mockers, and I didn't think that there was any reason for them to trust us. They also had obtained a script which was a very early version which didn't at all represent what I was hoping would be the final product. I think that Kathryn, as well, agreed, there was a lot lacking in that version that they were acquainted with, and we had all committed ourselves to doing a lot more work. Also, they're submariners, they're not filmmakers. They're Russians, and they're living a much different life and I think that their immediate reaction was that we should be telling their stories, their characters as they understood them, and you know, that's really not the purpose of a theatrical motion picture. We were absolutely committed to telling the story of their devotion to duty, their heroism, their selflessness, and that was where we were committed.”

That commitment sometimes meant consolidating the many versions of specific stories told by crew members separated on the sub. “A submarine is compartmentalized, sealed off from the next section. So, no two stories of the event were the same because this was immediately declared the stuff of secrets, and it wasn't discussed afterwards. Some guys thought that the pipes came from torpedoes, some guys thought that pipes came from the missiles, and really, it was sort of hard to really just figure out what really happened.”

Ford also faced the challenge of working opposite another formidable actor, Liam Neeson. Neeson plays the former captain who must accept a subordinate position to Ford’s character.

“Liam is great,” Ford said. “He's a very capable, talented actor. He devotes himself to the work with a real discipline. He has a good head on his shoulders, a good heart, and is just a great person to work with.”

Working together did not require a great sharing of techniques, but rather a mutual respect to accomplish the goal of each scene. “I don't think that we talked a lot about it. I mean, we did talk, when things weren't in the final stage, we'd talked about the theory of the scene, what we wanted to accomplish, he had suggestions, and I had suggestions, but neither of us are the kind of actors that like to sit around and talk about acting.”

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