Harrison Ford talks Han Solo in ‘Force Awakens’ and returning for ‘Indiana Jones 5’
Entertainment Weekly dropped their Star Wars: The Force Awakens cover story, and fans are getting a truckload of fun stuff, including new photos, comments by director J.J. Abrams and now star Harrison Ford.
Ford on reprising his role as Han Solo in The Force Awakens: “That’s why it stung so much when Ford showed scant affection for the smuggler — and even smacked him around a bit — over the years. He repeatedly said he wished Solo had been killed off in Return of the Jedi to give the final film in the original trilogy emotional gravity,” the article states.
He told NBC’s Today back then, “I was glad to see that costume for the last time.”
Now the famous 73-year-old star has softened significantly, happy for his return in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. “I was glad that the character was still alive for me to play in this new iteration,” he says.
Ford also says that the fact that Han Solo now believes in the Jedi doesn’t mean the character will be less of a “smart-ass”:
“No, there’s not an abandoning of the character. He does not aspire to the position of Obi-‘Ben’ Kenobi, nor do I aspire to be some New Age Alec Guinness. His development is consistent with the character, and there are emotional elements which have occasioned his growth. We spend a lot more time [in the movie] on his failure to master basic skills, like accounting. And accounting for his own behavior. There’s a lot of the rogue still left in Solo. Some things don’t change. … [Thirty-two] years is going to put some rings on the tree, some experience in the bank. You might make an elaborate conjecture [about who Solo is now], but I think we answer that question in the film. It’s best left answered there.”
Ford confessed he’d be up for a fifth installment of Indiana Jones (Indiana Jones 5?) The actor seems excited to do another adventure:
“Oh, yeah. Yeah, I’d love to do another Indiana Jones. A character that has a history and a potential, kind of a rollicking good movie ride for the audience, Steven Spielberg as a director — what’s not to like?”
