Harrison Ford Interview for 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' DVD

15 Questions With Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford is what one would call a legend. He's made a career of playing tough-as-nails rogues that women want to be with and men just want to be -- intergalactic ruffian Han Solo, badass patriot Jack Ryan and whip-cracking adventurer Indiana Jones, to name a few -- and his movies have grossed the not-so-modest sum of $6 billion worldwide as a result.

As if to make members of both sexes even more jealous, the 66-year-old screen icon scored a $783 million worldwide hit with this summer's 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' -- and looked supremely spry doing it.

In honor of the 'Skull' DVD release, Moviefone chatted with Ford about playing Dr. Jones after a 20-year layoff, whether he'll be passing Indy's famed fedora to Shia LaBeouf ... and why we won't rule out seeing him in 'Blade Runner 2' or another of his iconic roles. -- By Tom DiChiara

Paramount

1. A lot of screenwriters tackled scripts for 'Indy 4' that for one reason or another didn't make the cut. How did you decide on David Koepp's?

Scripts are always an ongoing process. And it wasn't as though we had finished scripts from different writers and then we could pick one. It was sort of an organic process from the very beginning managed by Steven [Spielberg] and George [Lucas] to bring George's ideas into a full shape. And George and Steven felt as we went through this process -- a 20-year process -- that at various times it was fruitful to bring different people into the mix, which is not to say that contributions weren't made. Effective work was done by people other than David. But luckily it all came together in a finished form.

Paramount

2. After 20 years, were you relieved when you finally had the greenlight and were ready to go and shoot the movie?

I was relieved when I read a script that I felt fully confident in. That's what I'd been waiting for.

Paramount

3. In all those different iterations of the script, was the character of Mutt always supposed to be your son, or was that something that evolved over time?

No, he was always meant to be my son. It's a reflection of the relationships that we began to explore through Karen [Allen] and through the character that Sean [Connery] played, my father. We found that that brought great pleasure to the audience -- to introduce them to other members of Indiana Jones' family, and to see what forces of personality caused him to be the person he is.

Paramount

4. How was it working with Karen Allen again after all these years?

An absolute delight. Karen has a wonderful personal energy, which makes her a pleasure to be around and also brings her character into sharp focus and vivid light.

Paramount

5. Were you disappointed that Sean Connery declined to reprise his role as Henry Jones Sr.?

Well, I was because I enjoyed very much working with Sean. I thought he brought complexity and depth and emotional reality to the situation. [But] I think that we had plenty of that arising out of the relationship between Mutt and his father.

Lucasfilm / Zuma Press

6. At the end of 'Crystal Skull,' Indy ALMOST passes his fedora and thus the torch to Mutt. Are there any plans for the franchise to go that way, with Shia LaBeouf taking over the mantle?

No, that's never been [the idea]. As George has famously said, we'd have to call it 'Mutt Jones: The Search for Elvis.' [Laughs.] I think it just doesn't work that way. And there's definitely a distinction between passing the fedora and someone picking it up.

Paramount

7. Would you be up for another go-around as Indy?

Again, it would have to do with the quality of the script that I read, if and when we decide to go forward.

Paramount

8. It was 20 years since you last played the role; did you do anything to get into the mindset or the physical shape required to play Indy, especially for all the action sequences?

Actually, no [laughs]. The action isn't just about the physicality; the action is about storytelling. And we're all very focused on making those moments of physical activity organic to the movie overall. You know, there's not much work that can be done in preproduction on that sort of thing; a lot of the work is done on the set, on the day when we all know exactly where we are and what we're going to do.

Paramount

9. You do most of your own stunts in the 'Indy' movies. Any particularly tough ones you had to tackle this time around?

I don't do stunts. I do physical acting. The stunt guys do the stunts. So there wasn't anything that was especially challenging -- just tiring, hard, slogging. The fistfights with the big Russian Igor were probably the most taxing, but it just worked. Just sweat and equity -- you put it in and it comes out the other end as movie entertainment.

Paramount