A hero without illusions

10/29/00
Sunday Morning Herald

AFTER Star Wars, Indiana Jones, The Fugitive and Air Force One, he's been America's favourite hero for three decades. But Harrison Ford has no qualms about playing with his image in his latest movie, the Hitchcockian murder thriller What Lies Beneath. Michelle Pfeiffer is the terrified wife, haunted by images of ghosts and death, who begins to suspect everyone around her, including her devoted husband (Ford). At last month's Venice Film Festival, the famously no-nonsense Ford proved that he's not only one of Hollywood's most durable stars, he also, refreshingly, has no illusions about himself or the business.

PLAYING HEROES: "Most bad guys don't interest me. It's rare that you find a leading man part that is a bad guy. And I'm a leading man. I didn't set out to be a leading man. I thought I was going to be a character actor. But the success of a few films and a lapse in public taste led me to become a leading man. I don't often take smaller parts. I'm like a fireman - when I go out I want to put out a big fire. I don't want to put out a fire in a dumpster."

WHAT LIES BENEATH: "You can see it both ways - as a thriller and a supernatural story. It's artfully constructed. Yes, it is hard to talk about - don't spoil the ending! You're in the public service business as I am. It's enough to say that the fun of it here was to take the accrued iconography (of my career) and twist it up."

MAKING $US30 MILLION A MOVIE: "This is what I do for a living. I'm in it for the money in the nicest possible way. I'm not saying there's any cosmic fairness but I think it's a fair price for the raw materials. I enjoy the freedom I've earned. Maybe at some point in my career I will do that character part. "

NO ACTING LESSONS, THANK YOU: "When I was a very young actor under contract to Columbia Pictures, I was obliged to go to acting classes taught by the studio. And I didn't get it at all, their method of getting into a part. I had to create a process for myself, to give me the answers I needed to commit myself to the ideas. I developed through experience and on-the-job training - and I have the bad movies to prove it."

INDIANA JONES: "I'd happily play it again. We're simply waiting for a script. I and Steven Spielberg and George Lucas are happy to make it. There's no reason Indiana Jones can't be older, can't be the same age as I am. I don't do stunts - I do running, jumping and falling down. After 25 years I know exactly what I'm doing."

BLADE RUNNER: "I wasn't a big fan of the film. I'm a detective who does no detecting, who opens four drawers. We (director Ridley Scott and I) weren't operating off the same page. And then when Ridley was removed from the film I was obliged to do this ridiculous voice-over. It's still this experience in design: spectacular to look at but emotionally unappealing. It doesn't move me at all. But I'm only trying to be truthful. I admire Ridley. We had a bad patch but we're over it."

FLYING VERSUS ACTING: (Ford is a licensed plane and helicopter pilot). "Which do I prefer - flying or acting? Hmm, that's a toss-up."

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