Harrison Ford Didn’t Care About Returning To Star Wars
It’s easy to forget now, but there was a time in the Star Wars franchise when it wasn’t totally clear if the main players and characters would return to the franchise. In 2013, George Lucas seemed pretty sure that Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher would return to the Star Wars universe to reprise their roles as Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia, respectively,. That was for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The speculation ended up being correct. But prior to that official confirmation, Harrison Ford talked about how he felt about maybe returning to the iconic role.
In an interview with MTV at the time, Ford commented on being at the center of successful landmark movies such as Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. Ford also spoke about returning to the roles that made him a celebrity in Hollywood.
It’s interesting because Harrison Ford, for sure, seemed somewhat noncommital or even maybe non-excited for the prospect of returning to Star Wars.
Harrison Ford said, “It might be nice, depending on the circumstances, to revisit any one of those characters. What interests me now is the opportunity to work at all and to work on ambitious projects. I can’t think that way. What I’m looking for is the next opportunity, the next ambitious opportunity. It doesn’t matter if it’s one of those. If it’s one of those, great. If it’s not, that’s fine too.”
It’s no secret that Harrison Ford had criticized George Lucas‘ ability to write dialogue in the past. As far as how he felt about Lucas in the moment of these quotes, well, he did address that.
Harrison Ford said about the possibility of working with George Lucas again, “I might have said things in the past that were characterizations of how I felt at the time. That was then. This is now. It doesn’t matter.”
Remember, at the time it was unclear how much involvement George Lucas would have with Lucasfilm and Star Wars: Episode VII. But his presence is still be felt throughout the Star Wars series as a whole, even during his retirement.
When it came to speaking about returning to the Han Solo role, if the above quotes are any indication, Harrison Ford didn’t seem all that jazzed up. Though that could have been some hedging of bets, not knowing exactly how the Star Wars sequel trilogy was going to take shape under J.J. Abrams.
In the end, Harrison Ford did return, only to be iced by his own son. So, it was not an amazing return for the character, but it definitely played into what the fans wanted at the time.
Hopefully, Harrison Ford will get that epic death scene he hoped Han Solo would get at the end of The Empire Strikes Back. It would be hard to see Ford playing Solo again in Episode VIII and Episode IX.
