Via Slate.com:
A few days ago, when the Star Wars braintrust announced they were developing a movie about the young adventures of Han Solo, my colleague Mike Ryan tweeted, “What makes Han Solo work is that he is played by an actor who thinks Star Wars is stupid.” Ryan meant that as a note for the filmmakers who already have the tall order of casting a young Han Solo, but it was a reminder of something that true fans have known for decades: Even though the space-set franchise made him famous, Harrison Ford has never really given two shits about Star Wars.
The evidence is legion. There’s that oft-repeated anecdote of Ford arguing with George Lucas about the Star Wars script: “You can type this shit, George,” Ford told him, “but you sure can’t say it.” Later, when Return of the Jedi rolled around, Ford notoriously lobbied Lucas to kill off his character, to no avail. What did he have against Han? “He was not so interesting to me,” Ford would explain in one interview, adding in another, “He’s certainly a much less interesting character than Indiana Jones,” before concluding, “He’s dumb as a stump.”
Message received! And while, yes, Ford was lured back to reprise Han Solo for the upcoming, J.J. Abrams–directed Star Wars: The Force Awakens, that didn’t necessarily augur a new affection for the franchise: After all, Ford is at the stage of his career where he’s appearing in Expendables sequels and Blake Lively movies. Maybe he just wanted the paycheck.
Which is why it was such a surprise yesterday when Ford was the final guest to take the stage at Comic-Con’s big Force Awakens panel, and instead of seeming ill at ease or like he’d rather be anywhere else, Ford spoke movingly about his participation in Star Wars and seemed to have turned a significant corner in his appreciation for it.
“It should have felt ridiculous!” Ford barked, when asked about returning to the franchise. “Here I was, doing something I did so long ago.” I could feel the fans around me steeling themselves.
And then Ford paused, significantly. “I will tell you that it felt great,” he said. “I was proud and grateful to once again be involved.”
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