Harrison Ford is one of those actors who’s known and loved by multiple generations of movie-goers. 

It’s pretty much impossible to not know at least one of his iconic roles in movies, such as Indiana Jones or Blade Runner. 

However, the actor has proven many times that there’s much more to like about him than the roles he plays, 

from his efforts to help the planet to times he’s saved someone’s life off-screen.

We at Bright Side decided to take a closer look at Harrison Ford’s life and became even bigger fans of his than before.

The early life of the actor wasn’t smooth sailing. 

The Indiana Jones-to-be was bullied at school, and he’s spoken about how some kids would push him from a hill, daily. 

Later, while getting a higher education, Harrison Ford became interested in acting, so much so, that he left college for Hollywood before getting a degree. Before his breakthrough role, the actor was a self-taught carpenter and did that for a living.

The role of Han Solo in Star Wars (1977) brought worldwide fame to the actor. The way he ended up landing the role was one of the instances of luck he’s mentioned: George Lucas initially hired Harrison Ford to read lines for the auditioning actors, but then he gave him one of the roles, which turned out to be one of the most iconic ones ever. He ended up committing to the role for 42 years with his latest appearance in Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

And this may be one of the reasons why Harrison Ford’s portrayal of the skillful and facetious pilot is so loved by fans — the actor is actually a pilot in real life, so he kind of always had that in him. He has a license to fly aircraft and helicopters, and he even carried out a mission to save Sarah George, a hiker who suffered from dehydration in the mountains.

The action star fully lives up to the reputations of the characters he plays in real life: other than the aforementioned helicopter mission, he also saved a woman who got into a car incident. Her car rolled off a motorway and hit a tree, but luckily Ford, together with other drivers who witnessed the incident, helped the 63-year-old out of the vehicle.

During the filming of the newest addition to the Indiana Jones franchise, heinjured his shoulder. However, this only slightly interrupted filming. His colleague, Mads Mikkelsen, praised the star for being in great shape and said that Ford was an “insanely powerful person, not just as an actor, but physically.” This is very impressive, considering that Ford is 79 years old.

Actress Rachel McAdams said she’d been a huge fan since childhood, so it was very exciting but at the same time intimidating to work with the legend on the same set of Morning Glory (2010). And Brad Pitt who also worked with Ford said, “I respect Harrison a lot… He’s Indiana Jones, a movie hero of mine. Harrison seems to care for common sense. I look up to him because of his integrity.”

Being perceived seriously doesn’t mean Ford doesn’t like to have a little fun at times. One time, he had his ear pierced at an accessories shop out of the blue. He was 55 at that time, having lunch with his friend when he suddenly decided he needed a similar stud in his ear. He then asked a sales assistant to pierce his ear lobe and left her a note that said: “To Tavora. You made a hole in me. Harrison Ford.”

Having been married twice by then, Harrison Ford finally found the one in 2002. Actress Calista Flockhart and he have been together for twenty years now and despite quite a significant age gap (she is 22 years younger), enjoy spending quality time together. The action star said in an interview, “I’m in love… I think there is a potential for it at any stage of your life.”

Despite being one of the most recognized actors of our time, Harrison Ford still is a private person who avoids using his publicity to promote things, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t use his status for a good cause — for example, Harrison Ford has been on the board of Conservation International for more than 10 years. There’s even a species of ant named after him, the Pheidole harrisonfordi.

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