Harrison Ford: Off the Beaten Path
Q: Let's see how well you do with offbeat questions.
A: I rarely give offbeat answers, but go ahead.
Q: If you could repeat one alcohol or drug experience you've had, what comes to mind?
A: [Laughs] I guess I wouldn't have gone to Hogs & Heifers [the bar in Manhattan's meat-packing district] that afternoon [during the filming of The Devil's Own]. Just went out one afternoon with a couple of guys, had a few beers and lingered too long. Guess I had too much fun. A lot of untrue stuff ended up in the tabloids. I'm usually pretty good, I don't drink too much, and when I do I usually stay out of trouble and out of sight.
Q: Should marijuana be legalized?
A: Probably.
Q: What's the saddest thing that's ever happened to you?
A: I suppose that would be the time around the events of the dissolution of my first marriage. No further details.
Q: What's the single most valuable thing you've ever learned?
A: Not to give up.
Q: When did you learn that?
A: Over the 15-year period it took me to begin to have a career in this business.
Q: If you could have survived any historic disaster?
A: It's either the Donner Party or the Titanic.
Q: What one news story or event would you like to have reported?
A: Ellsberg. The Pentagon Papers. Big story.
Q: What one event in history would you like to have personally witnessed?
A: The Gettysburg Address.
Q: Is that also a period of history in which you would have liked to have lived?
A: No. That was a terrible time in America. I think I would have liked to live around the turn of this century when things were really changing. Things are still changing very rapidly, but that would have been a very interesting time.
Q: What about if you had to have fought in any war in history?
A: World War II.
Q: If you could have been a jury member in any court case, what trial would you choose?
A: The court martial of Lt. Calley.
Q: For those who don't remember, Calley was tried for wiping out a village of mostly women and children during the Vietnam war. How did you react to that at the time? Was it something you could understand at all--a young soldier freaked out and firing at innocent people?
A: I couldn't comprehend it. I could never imagine it happening to me. What I could imagine was being under his command, seeing it happen and not being strong enough to stop it.
Q: How did you beat the draft during that time?
A: I was a conscientious objector.
Q: Were you actually classified as that?
A: No. I confused them so badly that they never took action on my petition. My conscientious objection wasn't based on a history of religious affiliation, which made it difficult at that time. I went back to my philosophy training from college. I remembered Paul Tillich's phrase, If you have trouble with the word God, take whatever is central or most meaningful to your life and call that God. I always had trouble with the word or notion of God in a stand-up form. So I developed that thesis and took the biblical injunction to love thy neighbor as thyself as the central and most meaningful thing in my life. I combined it all and typed for days and sent it off and never heard a word. Never got called in. It lingered for about two and a half years and then my first wife became pregnant and I got an exemption based on that. The lawyer that I had retained to pursue my case, one J.B. Teats, told me that I owed him $5,000 as a result of my wife becoming pregnant. He showed me the piece of paper I'd signed, the simple form of a retainer, which stipulated that any more desirable draft status that was achieved during this period of time would be deemed to be the result of his interference. And he was not amused by the conjecture of the child's paternity. So for about two years he dunned me for that $5,000. I finally paid him.
Q: OK, back to the offbeat. If you could reverse one sports call...
A: Don't know anything about sports. I don't have the sports gene in me. I just never cared about it.
Q: If you could have invented anything from history, what would you pick?
A: The airplane.
Q: If you could uninvent one thing?
A: Gunpowder.
Q: If you could be the editor of any magazine, which one would it be?
A: Flying.
Q: How long have you been flying?
A: About two years. It's something I always wanted to do and never had a block of time to do it in. I got my license last September.
Q: How is your vision?
A: I wear glasses when I fly.
Q: How was it when you first soloed?
A: Great. I had a few bad landings at first because I was flying a Cessna 206, which is a bit more of a handful than people normally fly during training. One bad landing I don't think I'll ever forget. I'm pretty well aware of my limitations.
Q: How far have you flown?
A: I've flown across the country four or five times. Always with somebody.
Q: Think crossing the ocean would be different for you?
A: It would be different for my wife. Right now I'm flying single-engine planes. I think I'll wait until I'm flying a twin to cross the ocean.
Q: What's your most treasured possession outside of your children?
A: I don't really possess my children. I guess that would be my new airplane. Seats six, single engine. But if I get my motorcycle next week it might be a toss-up.
Q: Do you collect anything?
A: Apparently I collect airplanes. And motorcycles.
Q: Do you buy art?
A: Yes. Until the walls are filled. I'm not a "collector" collector. I continue to look and every once in a while I'll buy something.
Q: What painting would you want over your fireplace?
A: I'm pretty happy with what's there now.
Q: What is there now?
A: A Vuillard.
Subscribe to the new Movieline on YouTube
