Monday, March 4, 2013

A Night in San Jose with Harrison Ford

Who needs Los Angeles?  Cinequest, one of the most respected film festivals in the country, is currently taking place only a few miles from my apartment.  Over the course of two weeks, an estimated 95,000 people will flock to a four-block radius in downtown San Jose for an event that offers 188 films (from some 2,000 submissions) representing 44 countries around the globe.  In addition to 80 world & U.S. premieres, the festival will host several big screen classics, workshops, parties, and awards.  One of these is the Maverick Spirit Award, given to those who "stand out from the crowd, daring to create and innovate with a personal yet global vision," a description thought to blend the spirit of world cinema and Silicon Valley.

This year's recipient was Harrison Ford, who drew huge crowds circling city blocks on Sunday night.  Somehow I didn't hear about his upcoming appearance until a few days ago, so about 90 minutes before the event, I drove downtown and purchased "Rush" tickets, meaning I'd only get into the theater if they didn't sell out.  Waiting patiently in the cold, 49 degrees for my confused east coast brethren, I was surrounded by media, festival employees, nuts in costumes, and one truly bizarre man in his fifties who kept raving about Elisha Cuthbert, the sexy blonde from his favorite movie, The Girl Next Door.  Umm . . . awkward!  But an hour outside proved worth the wait.  Once the thousands of previous ticket holders were seated inside, our significantly shorter line got the green light to enter.  

A few minutes after 7 p.m., Ford was introduced to a thunderous ovation worthy of his stature.  Now 70 years old, the action hero possessed a seemingly amused, but respectful perception of how his fans react in his presence.  He has reached an iconic status matched by only a handful of peers like Clint Eastwood, Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, and Robert De Niro, to name four.  And yet if you factor popularity abroad into the discussion, as well as films known to the largest number of moviegoers, a case can be made that Ford is in fact the greatest living movie star.  I felt privileged to have seen him just three weeks after attending a night of comedy with 75 year old Bill Cosby.  As one ages, he or she inevitably becomes increasingly aware of mortality and the fact that we get few opportunities to be in the same room with the celebrated figures we admire.  To this day I feel lucky to have seen George Carlin perform before he died.  And although Sunday evening merely consisted of a Q & A on stage, I felt similarly about seeing Ford.  

Over the course of an hour, Ford was asked about his career, work ethic, script choices, and humble beginnings.  Born in Chicago to an Irish Catholic father and Russian Jewish mother, Ford claimed he stumbled into acting by accident.  While attending college, he was looking for an easy way to boost his grades and chose drama without reading the full course description, which dictated his involvement in a play.  Shortly after he took part in a new play that involved an executive for Columbia pictures.  He was soon offered a seven year contract that would pay him $150 a week, but he stubbornly walked after becoming unhappy with small roles in junk films that were often ignored.  A slightly better offer from another studio lasted only 18 months when Ford again got out of his deal and turned to carpentry, from which he could earn a better living.  A few years later he was offered a supporting role in George Lucas' American Graffiti, but he turned down their offer of $485 a week, as he made $16 an hour as a carpenter.  When they found a little more money in the budget Ford said yes, even though he had recently had his first child.

His big break came a few years later when Lucas was auditioning actors for an unheralded science fiction film called Star Wars.  Lucas had told Ford he only wanted new actors in the film, although at the time Richard Dreyfuss was among those auditioning.  As a favor, Ford agreed to read with some 300 people, though after failing to find the right actor for Han Solo, Lucas offered him the now famous role.  When the interviewer mentioned Star Wars, the crowd went bonkers, prompting Ford to ask sarcastically, "You've seen that film?"

Ford spoke about his two collaborations with Peter Weir on Witness, the only time he was nominated for an Oscar, and The Mosquito Coast, which remains one of his favorite roles.  These films provided his first opportunities to tackle more challenging, adult roles.  He also appreciated his good fortune to portray a fascinating character in Regarding Henry, the first produced script from a then unknown J.J. Abrams.   He discussed his approach to screenplays and how he sometimes stops reading if he can't relate to the characters.  According to the actor, you can fix certain things in a script, but not a lack of understanding when it comes to life, humanity, and character.  The script has always been preeminent in his decisions, though he balked at questions asking who have been his favorite costars and directors.  He said everyone brings different approaches to material and he doesn't love anyone more than anybody else, just as he doesn't have a favorite among his five children.

Ford was asked about the responsibilities of bringing famous characters from other mediums to the screen, such as Dr. Richard Kimble in The Fugitive and Jack Ryan in Clear and Present Danger.  He has always responded to sympathetic figures and reported that while filming Patriot Games, he had a major disagreement with Tom Clancy over his choice to portray Ryan as having regret over attacks abroad.  The author saw a harder character, while Ford believed integrity was more important and eventually won out.  International relations proved unexpectedly relevant in his role choices over the years.  He also doesn't respond to revenge films, although he was quick to point out that he doesn't begrudge others for making those types of movies.  This was a significant contributing factor in his turning down the Mel Gibson role in The Patriot.  He also turned down the part of Bob Barnes in Syriana, a role that would earn George Clooney a Best Supporting Actor Oscar.  Ford didn't appreciate the response to Arabs in the initial script, although this element was toned down in later drafts, which he thought offered a higher level of respect.

He was asked about his tendencies to work with directors more than once, somewhat uncommon for a star of his magnitude.  In addition to Lucas and Weir, he has worked with Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Mike Nichols, Sydney Pollack, & Alan J. Pakula at least twice.  Ford mentioned that he usually enjoyed the repeat collaborations more, having an increased familiarity with those directors the second time.  He was also asked about the challenge of doing stunts as Indiana Jones, which earned another round of applause from the audience.  Ford discussed the process of becoming accustomed to the physicality of the role, which involved running, jumping, falling, punching, taking a punch, and using the famed bullwhip.  He also admitted to knowing virtually nothing about Archaeology, which drew laughs.  He suffered substantial injuries throughout his career, tearing his ACL on the set of Raiders of the Lost Ark, which he later repeated working on The Fugitive.  While making Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, he experienced a back injury that halted production for nearly a month.

Overall Ford was typically dry but a terrific sport, answering a series of questions he's probably been asked hundreds of times over the years.  He loves to work and currently has four projects at various stages of production.  Next up is 42, in which he will play baseball executive Branch Rickey, who helped break baseball's color barrier when he signed Jackie Robinson in 1945.  He discussed the responsibility to tell this story, which represented a crucial moment in American history.  Without Rickey and Robinson, Ford believes the Civil Rights Movement may have progressed much later than it actually did.  Interestingly, the veteran had to fight for the role, as director Brian Helgeland didn't want a star and initially saw Rickey as a character part.  But Ford finally won him over after a meeting where he discussed his approach to this sensitive material.

The interview ended with Ford reflecting graciously about how good life has been.  His success has enabled him to take part in other ventures of interest, such as becoming a pilot and serving on the Board of Directors with Conservation International.  He wishes everyone would do their part in eliminating violence, from bullies in the school yard to war overseas.  He also briefly teased the next Star Wars installment, scheduled to hit theaters in summer, 2015.

Harrison Ford has done amazing things in his film career, so many that there wasn't even time to touch on The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, Blade Runner, Working Girl, Air Force One, his many franchise sequels, or the upcoming Ender's Game.  He ended by jokingly telling the audience, "I really don't need any of you."  That's probably true, but whether he wants to admit it or not, moviegoers have always needed him.  And if he suddenly retired tomorrow, his legacy is intact.




No comments: