Harrison Ford: Off the Beaten Path
Q: Have you ever worried about stalkers?
A: No. I've had a number of people over the years who have not appeared to be totally in possession of all of their marbles, but I've never had any real trouble.
Q: What was it like when you went to Harvard to receive the Hasty Pudding Man of the Year award?
A: Silly. I was flattered to be chosen. I guess I dodged it a couple of years in a row and then, having been asked once more, I decided to do it. It's not the kind of thing I usually do.
Q: Would you do it again?
A: No.
Q: Did you really don a wig of rubber snakes and put on a red feathered, tasseled bra?
A: That's correctly reported.
Q: Were you paraded around Harvard Square?
A: No, that's the Woman of the Year who's led through the streets. I just had to appear onstage briefly dressed up in that rubber wig and sit and watch the Hasty Pudding show. Then I was led backstage for a press conference, the basis on which I can say I would never do this again.
Q: Given today's advances in technology, do you think one day some film editor might use the image of you as Indiana Jones to, say, sell vacuum cleaners?
A: I'll be long gone and will have spent the money.
Q: A lot of people probably don't know that you've done commercials in Japan.
A: I don't do it anymore. It was contractually understood that they were only for Japan. They were relatively fun to do. I did them for the Honda motor company, Kirin beer and a cellular phone company.
Q: Do people think of you more as a movie star than an actor?
A: Yeah. It's too fine a point to belabor, but what I do is act.
Q: Do you view any movies as art?
A: I think you can make a case for film writing being, under some circumstances, an artistic endeavor.
Q: You live with a screenwriter. What is your respect for that process?
A: I have the utmost respect for activities where people discipline themselves, work so much alone at the point of genesis and then begin to work with others, [which is] something else. It's very tough work.
Q: How rare is it to see a first draft of a script really work?
A: Very rare. Very. Things change when you begin making something.
Q: How many good scripts do you read?
A: I've read any number of scripts which are good in and of themselves, which doesn't mean that they are perfect for the job at hand. There's no limit for better.
Q: Is it harder to make a good movie than to write a good book?
A: Yeah.
Q: You were a voracious reader up to the age of 12--what books did you most enjoy?
A: Biography and history.
Q: And why did you stop reading as much after that?
A: Because I began to have assigned reading.
Q: Are there any novels you've liked recently?
A: I haven't read a novel in at least a year. I read practical nonfiction or scripts. My wife's a voracious reader.
Q: Did your involvement with the Dalai Lama happen because your wife wrote the script Kundun, which Scorsese is directing?
A: Yes, that was totally based on her. It's quite simple: I regret the situation of Tibet and see it as a failure to preserve simple human rights. I think the Dalai Lama is a remarkable person. I've come to respect and admire him.
Q: Is there a saintly aura around him?
A: I think he is a religious person. I think he's the real deal.
Q: You were declared a persona non grata by the agency that handles visas for Chinese-occupied Tibet. Was this because you spoke out before a Senate subcommittee on behalf of the Tibetan people?
A: Apparently. I'm sure I did a number of things to annoy the Chinese. I was nervous about public speaking, but it was a small panel. They sought our input. The ambition at the time was to prevent the Chinese from gaining Most Favored Nation status without redressing some of the problems they've created in Tibet.
Q: A year ago at Christmas you helped feed 4,000 homeless at the L.A. Mission. How did that affect you?
A: Being there didn't affect me one way or another, but the problem is something I think about and something I try to do some small part in alleviating through projects other than the L.A. Mission.
Q: You've said you don't quite understand happiness. With all you've got, what's to understand?
A: I don't understand happiness as an ambition. As a pure ambition it's not really worthy. I understand it as a by-product. My work is still an awful lot of fun for me. I love going to work. When it's coming easy or when it's going hard, I still love the job. I love the problem-solving.
Q: You've said that you have a degree of irritation with people who are undisciplined. In what ways?
A: People who don't do what they say they're going to do. Don't work hard at what they're doing. Give up easily. Don't prepare themselves.
Q: Do you have a temper?
A: It's way under control. I haven't lost my temper in months. I rarely lose my temper. I used to yell but I got over that.
Q: Did either of your parents yell?
A: Not really.
Q: Was it tough growing up with the name Harrison?
A: I was Harry until I went away to college and had the opportunity to reinvent myself. To at least that degree.
Q: Who do you know better, your mother or your father?
A: My mother, I suppose. A nice lady. They live in Laguna.
Q: And they've got a great-grandson. What's it like being a grandfather?
A: Great. I've got one grandson, four years old. He's terrific. And what's great is to see my kids with him. My grandson has a six-year-old aunt and a ten-year-old uncle.
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