Harrison Ford is a role model for aging gracefully

There is a scene in Firewall that's as unexpected and startling as anything in movies for years. Harrison Ford -- playing distraught banker Jack Stanfield -- jumps out of his car to try to save his daughter from kidnappers. When Ford makes his move, he stumbles backwards into some weeds. For a second, the action hero looks as if he's about to take a nasty tumble.

It's a small but telling moment, one of a handful of humanizing touches Ford insisted be included in the film.

The actor isn't afraid to act his age. If anything, he goes out of his way to acknowledge his diminished capacity for the tough stuff.

"Your life changes," he says, a trace of bemusement creeping into his voice. "But when I look in the mirror and see an older guy, it doesn't feel like a big blow. I didn't just wake up one morning 63 years old."

In Firewall, Ford must stand by helplessly as his wife (Virginia Madsen) and children are kidnapped by a criminal mastermind (Paul Bettany) and a gang of thugs. The bad guys need to take Ford's family hostage in order to convince him to break into the very bank he works so hard to protect.

While Ford demonstrates his vulnerability, he also gets the opportunity to showcase the fight-scene skills he's honed over the years in films like The Fugitive, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger and Air Force One.

Ford downplays how much his own physical fitness contributes to the hand-to-hand combat scuffles.

"It's acting," he scoffs. "It's smoke and mirrors. It's choreography. It's understanding the physics of a fight scene. It's breaking it down into manageable pieces and placing the camera in the right place to reflect the energy."

Bettany is the first to admit that Ford can take a licking and keep on ticking. " Harrison is a tough son of a b*&$," says the 34-year-old Brit. "I threw him through a window seven times and not only did he get up and get thrown again, he rebuilt the window with the crew in between. It's really extraordinary."

Ford has proven almost as impervious to box-office blows. Once invinicible, the actor has seen recent films like K-9: The Widowmaker and Hollywood Homicide fail to meet industry expectations. Yet, he remains an A-lister who earns a reported $20 million a picture.

Studios aren't exactly throwing their money away on Ford. He's the single most successful actor in Hollywood history. His cumulative worldwide box office toll stands at a record-breaking $5.65 billion. He's one of the few actors whose movies seem to gain credibility simply from his presence.

Every time Ford makes the interview rounds, he has to answer questions about a possible third sequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark. This time around, the actor is more hopeful than usual, hinting that Steven Spielberg and George Lucas might finally be ready to hop aboard.

"The audience is still there and everyone seems anxious for the film," says Ford. "Everyone involved is anxious to make another Indiana Jones, I believe. The films are an enormous amount of fun."

Ford was 39 when he first picked up Indy's bullwhip. But he believes he's still in good enough shape to outrun giant boulders.

The actor credits "good genes" and three tennis matches a week with helping him stay fit and trim.

Lately, Ford also has been getting his exercise running around after girlfriend (and Medford-reared) Calista Flockhart's 5-year-old son Liam.

After raising four children aged 38 to 15 with his first two wives -- Mary Marquardt and Melissa Mathison -- Ford is happy to pitch in with Liam.

"Oh, yeah, it's challenging," he says. "But looking after kids is always an adventure."

The notion of retirement rarely enters Ford's mind. But, he says, he'll know when it's time to disappear from the silver screen. "If I make that decision to retire then I'll be fine with it," he muses. "But since that's not the case, I don't think about it."

Going to work in the morning is still a thrill for the actor.

"In many ways, acting is more fun for me now than it ever was," he says. "It's my job. It's what I do. It's what I've spent my life learning how to do. It would be very hard for me to give up."

- By Amy Longsdorf