Amazing Facts You Didn’t Know About Harrison Ford

The One Role He’d Never Forget

Harrison Ford became a worldwide phenomenon for his iconic role as Han Solo in Star Wars, but his most famous role to date is still Indiana Jones. When asked which role is his proudest and which one is his favorite, he answered “Indiana Jones” to both. The media has had plenty of time to interview Ford.

When asked who he would choose to take over the character, Ford quickly responded, saying, “Nobody is going to be Indiana Jones. I’m Indiana Jones.” Despite his many accomplishments, Ford remains humble and appreciative of his fans, who have supported him throughout his illustrious career.

He Improvised Many of His Iconic Scenes

One of the most memorable scenes in the entire Star Wars franchise was when Han Solo was frozen alive by Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back. Solo received a final farewell from Princess Leia, who confessed to him, “I love you.” We expected him to say it back, but the actor confidently stared at her and replied, “I know”.

This famous scene was apparently an improvisation by Ford. He was originally supposed to say, “Just remember that, ‘cause I’ll be back,” but went off-script without telling anyone. The actor felt it would be more appropriate for Solo’s character to react as he did, and his improved moment made the cut into the final film.

Throughout the original trilogy, Han Solo went from the lone carefree captain of the Millennium Falcon to a loving and moral person. This transformation ended up turning him into one of the most iconic characters of the entire Star Wars franchise.

However, this transformation wasn’t enough for Ford, who believed that Han Solo should sacrifice himself at some point during the trilogy for the good of the others. This never quite materialized, as he had to settle for being killed in Star Wars: The Force Awakens by his son Ben sending him to his untimely death.

Ford Used to Work as a Carpenter

Ford initially moved to LA in pursuit of an acting career but was turned down by many studios before finally scoring his first big role. In the meantime, the aspiring actor had to pay the bills to support his then-wife and two young sons. Ford taught himself to become a professional carpenter and used the profession as a way to continue auditioning for various roles.

Nowadays, the actor is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, but he can also build you a damn good dresser. It’s clear that Ford’s talents go beyond acting and flying planes, and his commitment to hard work and craftsmanship is just one more reason why he is so beloved by fans all over the world.

Conservation Work

Ford has done a great deal over the years to help conserve various exotic and endangered species. He was honored for his work by having two Central American insects named after him. The first is the Pheidole Harrisonfordi ant, and the second is the Calponia Harrisonfordi spider. Unlike many activist actors, Ford doesn’t only stand on stage and speak about helping animals but also takes many personal actions to help them.

He has done extensive work both in the wild and in boardrooms to help these helpless creatures. In recognition of his efforts, Ford was awarded the Jules Verne Award for his contributions to conservation and exploration. Despite being a Hollywood icon, Ford continues to prioritize his work to protect the environment and encourages others to do the same.

Commercials in Japan

Ford became a huge movie star during the ‘70s and ‘80s, a time when the Japanese TV and film industry was booming. Ford was approached by various Japanese companies and offered big commissions for participating in various ads. Ford appeared in Japanese commercials for many products, most notably Kirin Lager, a Japanese beverage. You can thank the internet, especially YouTube, for sharing with us the incredibly entertaining outcome of his work.

It took Ford a few years of hard work and bold efforts before he finally scored his first few big roles. One of the first jobs he got when moving to LA was when he signed up for the New Talent Program at Columbia Pictures, which netted him about $600 a month.

The program found various small film roles for him, which helped the aspiring actor start off on the road to fame. Eventually, his connection with George Lucas helped him get the role of Han Solo, and from there, the rest is history.

Ford always described himself as a “late bloomer” when it came to developing his love of acting. He began his career in college by doing some radio and sportscasting gigs while majoring in English and Philosophy at Ripon College in Wisconsin. It was only by chance that Ford decided to pursue drama and only did it to help him become more extroverted.

Ford is a licensed pilot of both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. In March 2004, he officially became chairman of the Young Eagles program of the Experimental Aircraft Association. The actor and pilot appears in many advertisements that advocate safe flying for aircraft owners and pilots.

When Star Wars came out, Han Solo and Princess Leia were one of the most talked-about potential couples in film history, and fans hoped to see their romance materialize. In a 2016 interview with Carrie Fisher (who portrayed Princess Leia in the films), the actress confessed that, apparently – it actually did!

Despite being just 19 years old at the time, she and Harrison Ford had a famous affair. Ford was more than 30 years old and married with two children at the time. He has not commented publicly about the affair since it was first revealed.

Throughout his life, Ford was married three times. His first marriage was to his college sweetheart, Mary Marquardt. The marriage began in 1964, around the time the aspiring actor moved to LA to pursue his acting career, and resulted in two children. They separated fifteen years later in 1979.

One of Ford’s less fortunate titles at the time was that of the most expensive divorce in Hollywood history. He and Melissa Mathison decided to end the deal after more than two decades together, with two kids and no prenup in place. This resulted in a long legal battle, which ended up costing Ford more money than he made in all of Star Wars.

While Ford has worked hard to keep his private life as guarded as possible, there were a few leaks, especially from actress Carrie Fisher. She claimed that the two had the opportunity to party with The Rolling Stones back when they were shooting The Empire Strikes Back.

Fans of Harrison Ford are usually surprised to discover that the veteran actor has a small earring on his left ear, which he wears almost everywhere he goes. He originally had it pierced back in 1997 when he was already 55 years old. The actor was sitting at lunch with his friends one day and noticed that he was the only one without an earring. This prompted him to get his ear pierced later that day. Since then, he has been making up for lost earring time.

His rebellious spirit and unique sense of style have helped make him one of the most iconic figures in pop culture. From his signature fedora in “Indiana Jones” to his rugged leather jacket in “The Fugitive,” Ford has always managed to make even the simplest outfit look effortlessly cool.

Calista Flockhart is a popular American actress. She and Ford began a secret relationship after meeting at the Golden Globe Awards on January 20, 2002. Seven years later, the couple got engaged on Valentine’s Day in 2009. They were married one year later in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on June 15, 2010.

Ford appeared in famous director Roman Polanski’s 1988 mystery thriller, Frantic, and the two have become great friends ever since. The director got in legal trouble, has since been hiding abroad from U.S. law enforcement, and currently resides in France.

Ford finally got his chance to be seen on the big screen in a film titled Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round. He had a very short and small role and was not credited for his performance. If that wasn’t bad enough, he actually did receive some pretty bad feedback from producers.

One of the executives that saw Ford’s performance went as far as to advise him to quit while he was ahead. He told the young actor that he had no future in the film industry and that it would be best to just stop trying.

Harrison Ford and esteemed film director George Lucas were first introduced by a mutual friend just a few years before Lucas began creating his Star Wars film franchise. Both were relatively unknown at the time and had pretty good chemistry from the beginning. After their fantastic work in Star Wars, the two continued working together in films such as American Graffiti and Indiana Jones. Lucas is largely responsible for Ford’s fame, and the two are great friends to this day. They also had a very unique working relationship.

You might recall the iconic scene from Indiana Jones, which literally made the phrase “Don’t Bring a Sword to a Gun Fight“ famous. In Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indy runs into a large menacing Egyptian with a sword. The master swordsman begins showing off his skills and waits for Indy to make the first move.

One of the greatest honors for any Hollywood actor is their very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Although Ford has never received an Academy Award for his work, he was extremely excited about receiving this very high honor. The actor can be seen here during the iconic signing of the star. It was a moment he dreamed of for decades, which finally became a reality. And he couldn’t have been happier about it.

Ford has seen quite a few injuries while filming his various movies. Many of these failed stunts involved him receiving the type of damage that would normally end a career, but he magically recovered from all of them.

Indiana Jones was an extremely successful action franchise and ended up spawning three films during the ’80s. In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which came out in 1989, the main character spent some of the film with his father, Henry, who was played by Sean Connery.

Ford was quite a handsome and beloved actor back in his prime and saw his fair share of nominations in “Sexiest” and “Best Looking” lists at the time. For example, in 1997, Ford was chosen as one of People magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People in the World.

Ford used to have a very tough time getting cast in his first few years as an actor. He also almost never got credited for his minor roles, which meant that producers couldn’t even find him if they liked his performance. Things only got worse when the aspiring actor discovered that he shared the exact same name as a silent film actor.

Ford definitely likes to keep to himself and only does interviews when it’s time to promote another big movie. When the actor first announced he was going to do an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on the popular discussion site Reddit, fans prepared questions that were on their minds for years.

Other than his roles as Han Solo in Star Wars and Indiana Jones in the franchise by the same name, there is one film that fans of Harrison Ford absolutely adore. We’re obviously talking about 1982’s Blade Runner, the legendary sci-fi film by director Ridley Scott. The dystopian movie quickly became a cultural phenomenon and has a cult following even today.

Fans were initially skeptical when Warner Bros. Pictures announced a sequel to the legendary Blade Runner was due for release in 2017. After more than three decades since the original’s release, the film’s many cult followers were worried that studios were merely trying to bank on the franchise’s reputation.

Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling did many interviews together to help promote Blade Runner 2049 in the months before its release. They got asked many different questions by reporters ranging from funny personal questions and anecdotes to mind-wrecking inquiries by hardcore fans of the franchise.

While Ford initially had to take up carpentry just to support his family, the actor has since built a substantial net worth of over $200 million. He uses his money to buy expensive cars, motorcycles, and aircraft and also helps support various humanitarian and animal causes.

While Han Solo made for a great supporting character in George Lucas’s Star Wars franchise, he was only able to attain this legendary status when coupled with the rest of the cast. Unlike Solo, Indiana Jones is known by many as Harrison Ford’s most iconic role and managed to successfully lead three different films from the ‘80s and even one in recent years. Many young boys and girls were deeply inspired by Indie’s courage, assertiveness, and ability to solve problems.

Harrison Ford and director George Lucas were friends, but the nature of their relationship was so trusting that the two worked exclusively on a handshake basis when it came to the making of the three original Star Wars films.

Many fans of Harrison Ford honestly consider him one of the best classic actors from the last few decades. Despite having only a brief list of classic, iconic characters, his roles as Indiana Jones, Han Solo, and Rick Deckard made him one of the most recognized actors of all time. The actor was ranked first place in Empire (UK) magazine’s “The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time” list.

Ford was approached by British director Richard Loncraine to take up the lead in 2006’s action thriller, Firewall. Despite the movie being a disappointment both in terms of reviews and based on revenue, it had a silver lining, at least for Ford. During the filming in Vancouver, British Columbia, Ford was so impressed by the location that he decided to purchase a $13-million waterfront property on Bowen Island.

Harrison Ford was always interested in unique fields such as aviation and zoology. When he portrayed Indiana Jones, these interests also expanded to the field of archaeology. Since then, the actor has supported researchers in the field and serves as a General Trustee on the Governing Board of the Archaeological Institute of America.

Harrison Ford doesn’t like to share his political views too much and keeps his opinions mostly to himself. Although he portrays himself as the everyday rural American in most of his films, the actor is actually a lifelong Democrat. Or at least, that’s what he gave up when he was finally pressed a little on the topic. Ford jokingly claims “Democrat” was the religion in which he and his brother were raised.

Speaking of politics, Ford had the chance to portray a president during his acting career. Sure, it was a fictional one, but still cool, don’t you think? The actor played President James Marshall in 1997’s Air Force One. Ford’s serious demeanor and everyday-man look definitely make him appear presidential, but the actor prefers to stay as far away from politics as humanly possible.

Ford has taken a keen interest in the various controversies and issues that regarded the independence of Tibet. On September 7, 1995, the actor testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in support of the Dalai Lama. In 2007, he narrated the documentary Dalai Lama Renaissance.

For a brief period of time, Ford actually became the world’s highest-grossing actor of all time. This was right after the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which ended up grossing more than $2 billion in movie theaters. The actor has since been in a close rivalry with Samuel L. Jackson, who beat him with his revenues from all the Avengers films.

You’d think that someone like Harrison Ford was always a hero, but this is far from the truth. When asked about his childhood, Ford claimed that he was picked on at school. When asked why he thought that happened, the actor responded: “I was kind of short and geeky, I guess.” Can you imagine Ford being geeky? He’s gotten famous for being anything but a nerd, so the joke is actually on those who bullied him.

Thanks to his long career as an actor, Ford has appeared in quite a few films over the years. Throughout his acting years, the actor has appeared in films with four actors from the legendary Lord of the Rings cast. Harrison Ford was in the same films as John Rhys-Davies (Gimli), Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn), Sean Bean (Boromir), and even Miranda Otto (Éowyn). The movies were Raiders of the Lost Ark, Patriot Games, and What Lies Beneath, respectively.

Harrison Ford was blessed to have been born to two parents who loved him and supported him throughout his life. His mother, Dorothy Ford, was a radio actress, and his father, Christopher Ford, was an actor turned advertising executive. The young actor regularly appeared with his mother in film premiers until she passed away in 2004 at age 87.

Ford has a total of five children from his three marriages. His first marriage to Mary Marquardt bore him two sons. The first is Benjamin Ford, a chef-restaurateur who co-owns Ford’s Filling Station, a gastropub with two locations. The second, Willard Ford, is the owner of Strong Sports Gym, Kim Sing Theater, and the Ludwig Clothing Company.

His second marriage resulted in two more children, who both ended up becoming actors. The first is Malcolm Ford, and the second is Georgia Ford. Since then, the famous actor remarried a third time. When he met Flockhart, it was just after she adopted a child. Ford adopted her child, making himself the proud father of five.

Back in the ‘80s and early ‘90s, Harrison Ford was one of the most highly sought-after actors in Hollywood. In 1992, director Steven Spielberg approached Ford and asked him to portray Dr. Alan Grant, one of Jurassic Park’s leading characters. He seemed like the perfect choice for the role, as he resembled Indiana Jones in many ways.

Unfortunately, Harrison turned down the role, probably unaware of what a major phenomenon the movie would end up becoming. It was later decided that Sam Neill would portray the character instead. The new actor had less than a month to get ready for the role but ended up doing a fantastic job.

Harrison Ford is known for declining some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters. In 2000, he chose to let Russell Crowe take the lead in the romance-action film Proof of Life. Later that year, he was approached to act in The Patriot but declined the role, which ended up being played by Mel Gibson. Ford has some strict principles and rules when choosing the films he agrees to act in.

Many actors are remembered for having weird quirks in their on-screen performances. For example, Tom Cruise ends up running in almost all of his movies. Perhaps one of the things that makes Ford so unique and memorable is his tendency to point angrily at other characters, which seems to repeat itself from film to film.

If there’s one thing that Ford loves almost as much as acting, it’s taking one of his vehicles (whether land or air-based), and traveling around while enjoying the warm breeze and some old-school music. The actor claims to own “eight to nine motorbikes, four or five BMWs, a couple of Harleys, a couple of Hondas and a Triumph; (and a few) sports touring bikes.”