Washington Examiner: Harrison Ford will not be coddled
By Stephen Kent: Harrison Ford will not be Bubble Wrapped. Hopefully, that fact is not why we inevitably lose the legendary actor, now 80, who is about to embark on his last ride as Indiana Jones this month in the fifth installment of the franchise.
On the set of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Ford has been causing a little trouble. The good kind, of course. Ford has been in the midst of a career renaissance, taking his first-ever roles on television, both in Yellowstone's 1923 as the Dutton family patriarch and in Apple TV’s psychiatric comedy series, Shrinking. In both, he’s been leaning hard into his age, with all the grace, respect, and occasional bouts of frustration that growing old involves. We could all stand to learn something from Ford’s firm grasp on reality.
As reported in Variety, Ford was completing a scene for Indiana Jones on horseback and suddenly found himself surrounded by stagehands wanting to help him down from the horse. Ford said he thought at that moment, “‘What the f***?’ Like I was being attacked by gropers. I look down, and there’s three stunt guys there making sure I didn’t fall off the stirrup.”
As he was being set upon by the stage crew, Ford reportedly said to them, “Leave me the f*** alone. Leave me alone. I’m an old man getting off a horse, and I want it to look like that!” Anyone who has ever watched Ford in anything can picture the words rolling off his tongue effortlessly.
The actor most famously awssociated with Star Wars's Han Solo and Blade Runner’s Rick Deckard, in addition to the quixotic archaeologist Indiana Jones, has been getting hurt on the job for years, even when in his prime. Such is the life of an active person, especially one who lives out the heroism he’s known for on screen. You might have heard of that time Ford rescued a lost and hypothermic hiker atop Table Mountain, Wyoming, using his private helicopter. This is the stuff of legend.