The director who compared Harrison Ford to an avocado: “There’s a persona”
Harrison Ford is a true Hollywood icon, winning the hearts of audiences everywhere having graced the silver screen in various roles over the decades. From the archaeological adventures of Indiana Jones to the dystopian future of Blade Runner, Ford’s talents are incredibly multifaceted. However, this extensive career in film, coupled with Ford’s understated personality, causes a certain degree of intimidation for certain younger actors and filmmakers when working alongside the actor.
By all accounts, Ford is an incredibly friendly and personable actor to work alongside, with countless different co-stars and crew members speaking of their admiration for Ford throughout the decades. Still, the 82-year-old actor does not subscribe to the over-the-top, exaggerated enthusiasm adopted by many of his younger peers in the film industry. During press junkets, television appearances and interviews, the legendary actor can sometimes come across as unenthusiastic or even grumpy.
There is something of an expectation that actors, particularly of Ford’s stature and level of celebrity, tend to be jaded and have a certain degree of narcissism to them. Although that never seems to have been the case for the American Graffiti actor, the expectation nevertheless persists. Luckily, the actor has worked alongside enough people throughout his career to set that record straight. One person who has been particularly adept at cutting through the stoic persona of Ford is director Joel Edgerton.
Growing up during the 1980s, Edgerton was a natural disciple of Ford’s roles in films like Indiana Jones and Star Wars, and sought to follow in the same footsteps by becoming an actor. In fact, Edgerton managed to land the role of Owen Lars in the Star Wars prequels during the early 2000s, forming something of an indirect connection to the actor. Eventually, the pair’s paths crossed earlier this year, when Edgerton was recruited to create a series of advertisements for Glenmorangie Scotch whisky.
Edgerton cast Ford in the advertisements, seeing the legendary actor don a kilt and explore the Scottish Highlands in a series dubbed Once Upon A Time in Scotland. Working alongside such an iconic actor was undoubtedly daunting for Edgerton, but the experience allowed the filmmaker to cut through the popular persona which is often attached to Ford.
Speaking to Variety in January 2025, Edgerton shared, “I’d watched a lot of his interviews, and I realised that true or false, there’s a persona of Harrison’s that is quite gruff and, you know, grumpy.” The director went on to compare the actor to a certain stoned fruit. “He’s a bit like an avocado,” Edgerton declared. “He’s rock solid on the outside, but he’s very soft in the middle. He has an emotional softness and a sensitivity and a humanity that he then covers with this sort of prickly outside.”
While that analogy might be pretty tenuous – particularly given that a large, very solid pit occupies the middle of an avocado, and that the fruit doesn’t tend to be prickly on the outside, unless you have confused an avocado for a soursop…or a cactus – it does at least provide some insight into the experience of working with Ford.
So, while Harrison Ford might be afforded a “gruff” persona for many people, it seems clear that, on set and in real life, the beloved actor is as kind and personable as they come. Seemingly, that is among the many reasons why Ford has managed to maintain such an extensive, diverse, and legendary career as a Hollywood actor.
