Actor arrives in Boston to promote new film

BOSTON -- The Force of fandom was with Harrison Ford as he arrived in Boston last month to promote his new film, "Firewall."

During a lengthy question-and-answer period following the movie’s screening, a theater full of Ford devotees, who gave the actor a standing ovation, asked a slew of queries ranging from comic to interesting to inane. Dressed in jeans and sporting a beard, the 63-year-old thespian answered the questions in a low-key manner, concluding many replies with a "thank you."

The question on many minds was whether a fourth Indiana Jones film was finally going to happen. "We hope to get started this summer," Ford said. But anyone looking for details wasn’t going to get them. "I can’t tell you anything about it," he added.

In "Firewall," which opens Friday, Ford plays a security specialist forced to rob the bank whose security system he designed in order to protect his family who are being held hostage.

The audience, however, was more interested in Ford’s career, specifically his roles in the "Star Wars" and the Indiana Jones films, while some couldn’t resist asking the acting icon for a few favors. One asked if he could shake his hand. Ford obliged. Another asked Ford if he could sing her "Happy Birthday." Ford again obliged.

Asked how he motivates himself to portray a role, Ford quipped, "Well, there is money involved.... I don’t mean to be glib. It is my job. It’s what I do for living. I make a considerable effort to do as best I can."

On how he prepares for a role without having other roles factor into the performance, Ford deadpanned, "I wear different clothes." He also does "a lot of research whether it’s necessary or not just to stumble around in the world the character I play is meant to live in....

"Acting itself I don’t think is very difficult. What’s difficult is deciding what to do, what the best choice for the film is in each particular scene, how to make it fit together. I get fixated on what it takes to tell that story.

"I don’t have a technique I’m aware of. What serves me as an actor is to really pursue story (and) character."

What attracts Ford to a film, he said, "is a really good script and a good director. I’ll go anywhere (for that). I like living in a strange place for a period of time. It’s one of the fun things."

Asked what he’s passionate about, Ford responded, "I’m very fond of my work and I’m passionate about my family, about flying, conservation, human rights. That’s enough."

Some questions didn’t generate a specific reply. One audience member wanted to know if there was an actor with whom Ford would like to work. "Frankly, my mind doesn’t work that way," he said. "There are a lot of young actors coming up, a real crop of good ones and I’d love to work with any of them. I just don’t think in abstracts that way."

In the minutiae category, an audience member said he heard a rumor that the 1966 film "Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round," in which Ford makes an uncredited film debut as a bellhop, was filmed in Boston. The International Movie Database Web site indicates parts of the movie were filmed in Boston. Ford’s brief scene, however, wasn’t, he said. "My one very small scene was shot on a soundstage in Los Angeles," he noted.

Asked how he chooses a script, Ford replied, "I do most of the ones I get all the way through. I’m looking for a good story. I’m looking for something different from what I’ve recently done, another genre, a different kind of character. If I’ve done a bunch of dramas, I want to do a comedy.

"I do what I think will please an audience. I think this is a service occupation. We are storytellers, and there’s no sense in telling stories that people don’t want to hear. I look for things that are well-made. They have a degree of challenge for myself and the audience. I’m looking for something that I think will be a good ride."

Not all questions received lengthy responses. "Do you have any advice for me on how get into pictures?" one audience member asked. "No," Ford replied. The audience laughed.

Ford’s self-deprecating sense of humor made an appearance as well. One audience member didn’t think Ford had ever played a villain. "Did you see a movie called ’What Lies Beneath’?" he asked. "Or did you think that was Michael Douglas?"

When a female audience member said she preferred the first three "Star Wars" films featuring Ford to the last three, Ford yelled, "Mom, shut up!"

Another audience member said he was "very surprised" when he heard Tom Hanks, and not Ford, was cast in the lead role for "The Da Vinci Code." "So was I," Ford quipped. "I think the book said the character looked like me but curiously it must have been me at a much younger age."

Ford seemed to be more at ease talking about acting than making behind-the-scenes revelations. The Illinois native said he got the acting bug while at Ripon College in Wisconsin. "I was a philosophy and English major and I was not doing very well," said Ford. "In an effort to find something in the course book that sounded like it was a cinch to help bring my grade-point average up, I picked drama. Having failed to read the course description all the way through, I didn’t realize it involved standing up on stage and acting.

"I was terrified at first (and) that made me a little angry at myself. So I was determined to get over that knee-knocking nervousness. When I did, I also found that when I was engaged with people trying to tell a story, it felt better than any other thing I had ever done before. It felt like I had found kind of, if not a purpose, at least a cultural utility. I was comfortable being part of storytelling. I found an outlet for my emotions and my ambition to work with other people. It was a good fit."

Ford eventually dropped out of Ripon to pursue a career in acting. He was not an overnight success and even worked as a professional carpenter before landing the role of Bob Falfa in "American Graffiti." The film’s director, George Lucas, then cast Ford as Han Solo in "Star Wars" and the actor didn’t have to worry about sawing two-by-fours anymore.

"All I wanted to do was make a living as an actor," said Ford when asked about the ensuing fortune and fame. "I never thought I’d be a leading man. I thought I was going to be a character actor and I thought I would be lucky to get jobs. I was surprised as anybody that the films...became so successful. I was a valuable piece of a valuable machine. I was useful. I wasn’t interested in fortune or fame."

Asked to compare the first three "Star Wars" films to the subsequent movies, Ford said the newer films were "a very different kind of movie" geared for "a very different audience" than the original trio. "They’re full-on digital movies films, and the ones we made were analog movies. The first three were like ’50s Saturday serials."

Asked if he had a favorite role, Ford said, "No. That’s like asking, ’What’s your favorite child’" "Do you have a favorite child?" the questioner added. Ford didn’t give a response. One can assume he might have enjoyed employing Indiana Jones’ bullwhip on this questioner’s derriere.

In a related matter, an audience member asked Ford "who would beat who in hand-to-hand combat, no weapons involved, Han Solo or Indiana Jones?" "I don’t know," said Ford.

Returning to reality, an audience member asked Ford if he had any interest in directing. The actor said he didn’t.

"It takes too long. It’s really hard and it doesn’t pay very well," he said. "Bob Hoskins, the English actor, said after directing his first film, (that) it was like being pecked to death by penguins. People are coming up to you all day long, saying ’Do you want that one or do you want that one?’ It’s a very intense job. I think you have to develop very special talents to do it and I’ve never spent any time trying to develop those talents."

Asked if there were any roles he passed on that he wished he had taken, Ford said, "Lots." He provided no examples, only the rationale. "I couldn’t figure out how I could do it," he said. "That’s why I passed on them."

According to IMDb, the list of roles Ford has turned down includes "Proof of Life," "The Perfect Storm," "The Patriot," "Hunt for Red October," "Traffic" and "The Untouchables." The site states he even turned down the TV role of Mike Stivic in "All in the Family." Rob Reiner sends his thanks.

The roles Ford did accept, however, have served him well. According to IMDb, the U.S. box-office grosses of all of his films total about $3.18 billion with worldwide grosses totaling approximately $5.65 billion. "No other actor in history has box-office grosses as large as Ford’s," the site states.

While major honors have eluded him, Ford was nominated for an Oscar for "Witness" in 1985. He lost to William Hurt in "Kiss of the Spider Woman." He was also nominated for a Golden Globe for "Witness," "The Mosquito Coast," "The Fugitive" and "Sabrina."

Asked if he had any goals he’d yet to accomplish, Ford replied, "I don’t have any specific goals as far as movies are concerned. I feed opportunistically."

- By Bob Tremblay