Harrison Ford is recalling why his 1997 thriller The Devil’s Own was such a “complicated” movie to make.
In a new interview with Esquire, the Star Wars alum revealed that at one point in filming the movie with costar Brad Pitt, they “didn’t have a script that Brad and I agreed on.”
The film centers on an IRA gunman (Pitt) who draws an American family into the crossfire of terrorism.
“Brad developed the script. Then they offered me the part. I saved my comments about the character and the construction of the thing — I admired Brad,” Ford, 80, said.
“First of all, I admire Brad. I think he’s a wonderful actor.
He’s a really decent guy.
But we couldn’t agree on a director until we came to Alan Pakula, who I had worked with before but Brad had not.”
“Brad had this complicated character, and I wanted a complication on my side so that it wasn’t just a good-and-evil battle,” he continued. “And that’s when I came up with the bad-shooting thing.”
The “bad-shooting thing” was a scene in the movie where Ford’s police officer character sees his partner participate in an illegal shooting. As Ford explained, he “worked with a writer” for the scene, but he and Pitt, 59, couldn’t come to an agreement on how things would go.
“Each of us had different ideas about it. I understand why he wanted to stay with his point of view, and I wanted to stay with my point of view—or I was imposing my point of view, and it’s fair to say that that’s what Brad felt,” Ford shared.
“It was complicated. I like the movie very much. Very much.”
The film itself, which was directed by Alan J. Pakula, ended up earning $140 million worldwide. It also starred Margaret Colin, Treat Williams, Rubén Blades and Natascha McElhone.
Elsewhere in his interview with Esquire, Ford revealed why he hasn’t gotten around to writing an autobiography covering his storied career. As he explained, Elton John once asked him why he hadn’t written the book yet.
“I said, ‘I thought about it, but I decided I’m not going to do it, because I didn’t want to tell the truth,’ ” Ford said. “And I saw the disappointment on his face—Elton’s a pretty genuine guy, you know. I wanted to mollify him, so I said, ‘But I didn’t want to lie, either.’”
“So that’s the reason I’m not writing a book: because I don’t want to tell the truth, and I don’t want to lie.”
Ford’s latest film Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, marks his “most emotional” performance, according to some critics. The actor, who first played the role in 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark, opened up about retiring the character during a press conference this month.
“Is it not evident? I need to sit down and rest a little bit. I love to work, and I love this character, and I love what it brought into my life, and that’s all I can say,” he said, adding that he “wanted to round up the story” with this new installment.
“Everything has come together to support me in my old age, and I love the work. So I just want to work and I want to tell stories, good stories, and I have been so lucky in my life to have that opportunity.”
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