Age factor no ‘Firewall’ to action role for Ford

Let others be touchy-feely, sweet or funny.

Harrison Ford, who at 63 reigns as the world’s oldest A-list action star, is tight-lipped, unapologetically gruff and all business, which is perfectly appropriate for Jack Stanfield, the bank executive he plays in “Firewall,” his first movie in three years.

In the thriller (opening Friday) that features Paul Bettany as his nemesis and Oscar-nominated “Sideways” sweetheart Virginia Madsen as his wife, Ford’s Jack finds his family kidnapped and held hostage by a well-organized cabal of thieves who then force him to help with a sizable high-tech looting.

So how does Ford feel about being a senior citizen in a business focused on teenagers?

“It changes,” he said. “Of course it’s different, but it’s incremental. I’ve been able to accommodate it because it’s happened year by year, and it’s not a real blow to me. I didn’t just wake up one morning 63 years old.

“Acting is in many ways more fun now,” continued Ford, who worked as a carpenter before his big break with “Star Wars” in 1977. “It’s more fun because I suppose that over the years I have gained more information, more understanding and feel more comfortable.”

Though he easily could retire with companion Calista Flockhart, he has no intention of doing so.

“Acting is my job. It’s what I do. It’s what I spent my life learning how to do, and it would be very hard for me to give it up,” he said.

As for this unusual and lengthy break between pictures and the status of “Indiana Jones 4,” Ford downplayed the effect of his 2003 summer flop “Hollywood Homicide,” which also capsized Josh Hartnett’s career.

“The process of bringing this particular project to the screen took longer than anticipated,” he said.

Mark Pellington, the original director of “Firewall,” suffered a tragic loss when his wife became suddenly ill and died. That was just days before production was to begin; he was replaced by Richard Loncraine, who had just worked with Bettany on “ Wimbledon.”

“We had to of course develop the script for the new director,” Ford said. “But it did take quite a while to get this thing up and running, and that didn’t allow me time to do anything else.”

As for Indy, “We don’t have a date yet,” he said, adding, “There is a script.”

Did he have any reservations with it?

“I was mostly concerned about the historical time in which we place the next adventure, the ’50s.”

For those who might be concerned that an aging action star is a contradiction, Loncraine has a story.

“We’ve been doing some college press for this,” he said, “and one of the kids said to Harrison, ‘Aren’t you a little old to be Indy 4?’ And Harrison answered, ‘Do you want to come outside and find out?’ ”

Loncraine smiled. “I wouldn’t walk outside. He’s a gentle man, but sometimes he doesn’t know his own strength.”

In “Firewall,” Ford shows he’s still up for action, especially in a ferocious hand-to-hand battle scene with Bettany that took a week to film.

“Most of the credit goes to Harrison, he choreographed that,” Loncraine said. “Sure, I was there, but he knows fights. And this wasn’t a case of using doubles. Both he and Paul did most of the fall down the stairs. Harrison had to be doubled only for a fall into the trench, which you can’t risk.”

“It’s understanding the physics of a fight scene,” Ford said, “breaking it down into manageable pieces and placing the camera in the right place to reflect the energy. That fight in a way is a short story, with a beginning, middle and an end. Otherwise it becomes a mush.”

- By Stephen Schaefer / Movies