Hollywood
An 80’s playboy detective almost took Harrison Ford’s role as Indiana Jones
The legendary actor behind Han Solo and Indy, who is now joining the MCU, almost missed out on one of the biggest roles in his career.
Harrison Ford, one of the most iconic actors in Hollywood, turned 82 on July 13, 2024 and that is why we want to look back and remember his beginnings as an actor, more specifically, one of his two most important and legendary roles next to that of Han Solo in ‘Star Wars’: that of the intrepid archaeologist Indiana Jones. However, Ford was on the verge of not playing the beloved character in favor of another very fashionable actor during the 80s, who was none other than Tom Selleck, the protagonist of ‘Magnum, P.I.’ and the favorite candidate of George Lucas. But Steven Spielberg had Ford on his crosshair for ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ and that would give rise to one of the most famous franchises of adventure cinema.
‘Magnum’ was the great salvation for Harrison Ford
After working on ‘Star Wars’, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg were already thinking about another great adventure film, this time, resorting to the spirit of the serials of the 30s and 40s. But for this, they needed to have a charismatic and attractive protagonist, with a certain comic personality but tough enough to confront Nazis in action sequences that were truly revolutionary for the time. And although both Lucas and Spielberg had their favorite actors for the role, they did not hesitate to consider names like those of Steve Martin, Bill Murray, or Jack Nicholson; They even conducted screen tests with actors like Peter Coyote and Tim Matheson.
Both continued on with their respective bets, which were none other than those of Tom Selleck for George Lucas and Harrison Ford for Steven Spielberg. Of course, Lucas was not very convinced with Ford after working with him so much in ‘American Graffiti’ as well as in ‘Star Wars’, since he preferred not to repeat actors. That is why he bet heavily on Tom Selleck, an actor who was in the limelight after appearing in films like ‘The Washington Affair’ and ‘Coma’, and he did not hesitate to accept the role after Lucas called.
However, Selleck had just filmed the pilot episode of a promising series called ‘Magnum, P.I.’, whose success marked the actor’s professional future during the 1980s, becoming a television icon giving life to the famous private investigator from Hawaii, Thomas Sullivan Magnum and his unmistakable style marked by printed shirts, colorful shorts and his bushy mustache, a true playboy who lived in a mansion with his English butler, Higgins, and who was driving a brand new red Ferrari.
“I got there, and Steven was quick to greet me, gave me the pages for the test, told me not to worry and to take all the time I needed,” said Selleck in an article in People Magazine. “There was wardrobe waiting for me. The hat and leather jacket helped me understand the period. I think it was Steven who told me. George had always been kinda quiet. Always thinking, taking things in. But I think I detected at least the hint of a smile on his face. All of this was going to be, how do I put it, complicated. Extremely complicated.. But hey, I had George Lucas and Steven Spielberg on my side. And, of course, I had my trusted A-team in place, Skip and Bettye.”
Selleck actually got the role, but at the same time Magnum P.I. was picked up by CBS, and he was unable to participate in the film. It was then that Lucas and Spielberg went with their second choice, Harrison Ford, who would end up starring in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ and giving life to one of the most prolific franchises in Hollywood.
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