AND
HOW MANY OF THOSE THINGS ARE YOU, REALLY?
Very
few.
YOU
DONT CONSIDER YOURSELF AN ACTION STAR EITHER, DO YOU?
Im
not an action-movie star, as I am often referred to. I have only done
one film that really falls into that category, Air Force One.
WHAT
ABOUT THE FUGITIVE AND
The Fugitive is a character study.
BUT
I JUST WATCHED IT, AND SOMETHING HORRIBLE HAPPENS TO YOU EVERY TEN MINUTES
.
Notheres
a train crash, and then theres a dummy that gets thrown out over
a dam into the water. Thats all the action there is.
OKEYDOKE,
BUTAND I DONT MEAN TO PRESUMEIT
SEEMS YOU TAKE THE ACTION STAR MONIKER AS AN INSULT. WHY?
Not
as an insult, but because its a mischaracterization, thats
all. There are a lot of films Ive doneLike the Tom Clancy
filmsthat have action, but theyre not action
films.
AND
YOU JUST WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE. OKAY. ABOUT YOUR LATEST,
HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE, WITH JOSH HARTNETT, YOUVE SAID THAT YOURE
PARTICULARLY PROUD THAT THERE ARE NO SPECIAL EFFECTS IN THE FILM. BUT,
HEY, DUDE, ARENT YOU A PIONEER OF THE BLUE SCREEN?
[chuckles]
I did appear in a lot of it in the Star Wars movies and others,
but I think in some ways weve come too far: The audience is placed
in a world they know doesnt exist, and very quickly you get inured
to it and dont give a shit.
YEAH,
ITS LIKE COOL PICTURE, BUT
but
then, Im sorry, I thought there was a story here somewhere.
Oh, whoops! There isnt any, I get it, I get it. [smiles]
YEAH-SORTA
LIKE THE LAST TWO STAR WARS MOVIES. BUT I WONT MAKE YOU TRASH
THEMAFTER ALL YOUR STAR WARS FILMS ARE GREAT.
EXCEPT, OF COURSE, THE ONE WITH THOSE LOATHSOME EWOKS.
I
hated em, tooit was like a teddy bear prom.
OF
COURSE, THOSE FILMS AND THE INDIANA JONES SERIES HAVE MADE YOU,
AT 60, PERHAPS THE MOST COMMERCIALLY SUCCESSFUL ACTOR EVER.
I
dont know if thats trueI dont know where
youd go to find something like that. But I never had an ambition
to be well-knownI thought I was gonna be a character actor
and would have been quite happy. But things got out of control.
YEP,
AND NOW YOURE REVVING IT BACK UP, PLANNING TO DO ANOTHER BIG INDIANA
JONES INSTALLMENT. WILL INDY TURN IN HIS WHIP AFTER THIS?
Who
knows? Its been almost 15 years since the last one, and if you take
my chronological age and add 15 years to that, its like, if we dont
do it again quickly after this one, chances are we wont do another.
YOU
KNOW, YOUR BLOCKBUSTER STATUS HAS MADE IT HARDER FOR YOU TO BE PERCEIVED
AS THE SOLID ACTOR YOU ARE. EVER HAVE OSCAR ENVY?
No.
There are people that are more likely to be celebrated for their acting
skills, and there are other people, who, perhaps, even by nature of their
own taste, are less likely to be caught acting and thus, not celebrated.
Im fine with that.
SO
WHEN YOU LOOK BACK AT YOUR PHENOM OF A CAREER, WHAT DO YOU SEE?
I
see a career of a person that was very slow in taking off, that was grudgingly
admitted into the circle, and who has managed to stay alive and find fulfilling
work. Ive had a really interesting job.
YEAHWHY,
YOURE HARRISON FORD!
(smiles)
Whoever the fuck that is.
©
2008 Brantley Bardin. All Rights Reserved.
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