Harrison Ford was determined to show Indiana Jones’ age onscreen.
Despite being CGI-ed for a flashback sequence in Ford’s farewell to the adventurer in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” the actor told Esquire that it was essential to the franchise to show the character as an “old man.”
Ford detailed one scene in which Indiana Jones rides a horse through New York City during the moon landing celebration. While filming, three stunt workers were spotting him.
“I thought, ‘What the fuck?’ Like I was being attacked by gropers,” Ford said. “I look down and there’s three stunt guys there making sure I didn’t fall off the stirrup. They said, ‘Oh, we were just afraid because we thought, you know, and bah bah bah bah.’ And I said, ‘Leave me the fuck alone…Leave me alone, I’m an old man getting off a horse and I want it to look like that!’”
Ford, who also rides horses onscreen in “Yellowstone” prequel show “1923,” did become injured on the set of “Dial of Destiny” after filming a fight sequence with co-star Mads Mikkelsen. Ford tore the muscle off his right shoulder and stepped away from production for eight weeks to recover.
“I’m also known for shutting movies down because I get hurt, which is not something you want to be known for,” Ford admitted. “But hey, shit happens.”
The “Shrinking” actor addressed his desire for “Dial of Destiny” to be the most “ambitious” character study of Indiana Jones in the franchise. “Dial of Destiny” is the first film not directed by Steven Spielberg, instead with James Mangold helming the feature. Spielberg serves as an executive producer.
“I wanted an ambitious movie to be the last one,” Ford said, “And I don’t mean that we didn’t make ambitious movies before — they were ambitious in many different ways. But not necessarily as ambitious with the character as I wanted the last one to be.”
Spielberg applauded Mangold’s vision for the final “Indiana Jones” film starring Ford.
“It’s really, really a good ‘Indiana Jones’ film. I’m really proud of what Jim has done with it,” Spielberg said. “When the lights came up I just turned to the group and said, ‘Damn! I thought I was the only one who knew how to make one of these.’”
