Harrison Ford on revisiting old roles and what he would be doing if he wasn’t an actor

Harrison Ford was recently honored at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival with the prestigious Palme d’Or award in recognition of his nearly 60 years in the movie industry.

Cannes festival director Thierry Fremaux and Cannes festival president Iris Knobloch presented a highlight reel of Ford’s career before the premiere of ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’, the fifth and final ‘Indiana Jones’ movie.

The reel looked at his earliest roles including ‘Star Wars’ in 1977, where he played Han Solo, to scenes of 1982′s ‘Blade Runner’ where he played Rick Deckard, and all four previous ‘Indiana Jones’ movies where he plays the titular character.

Ford took a moment to reflect on the longevity of his career, resisting old roles, and what he would be doing if he wasn’t an actor.

On reprising old roles.

“It was a great night. I cannot deny it. And I cannot deny being flattered and uncommonly reflective and quite literally just happy to be here,” Ford said on his Palme d’Or win in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

Ford has shut the door on the ‘Indiana Jones’ franchise, with the new movie being the last one where he’ll be reprising his Indiana Jones character.

But Ford is no stranger to revisiting past roles. Aside from his numerous ‘Star Wars’ appearances playing Han Solo, in 2017, Ford returned to the ‘Blade Runner’ franchise as Rick Deckard in ‘Blade Runner: 2049′, alongside Ryan Gosling and Ana de Armas.

Ford opened up about what it’s like to replay old roles.

“[T]here’s a bit of discipline to it. I’ve always felt, and the people that I’ve worked with have always felt, that we need to bring something new to the mix,” he explained.

“If we’re going to do another ‘Indiana Jones’, the essential question is, ‘What new thing are we going to learn about Indiana Jones?’

“Because if you don’t progress the character when you progress the story, you’re going to be out of sync. I have not been disappointed by any of those films that I’ve done where I’ve done it over — that I can think of right now.”

For Ford, it was also important to give ‘Indiana Jones’ a conclusive story.

“I’d always wanted a final chapter in the story. We first started thinking about it quite a few years ago. My ambition — all of our ambition — was to come up with a story that dealt with the reality of his age because he was such a physical character,” he said of Jones.

What he would be doing if he wasn’t an actor

Throughout his early career, Ford worked as a carpenter and even worked on Francis Ford Coppola’s office, making a portico entrance for the famed director.

Ford reveals that had George Lucas not chosen him to play Han Solo in ‘Star Wars’, he probably would’ve continued with carpentry.

“I would have been a miserable carpenter,” he said.

‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ will be released in theaters on June 30, 2023.