The hilarious name Harrison Ford was almost forced into having: “Get the fuck out of here”
There’s a lot to be said about having the right name in Hollywood. Of course, if you’re blessed with a famous parent, then chances are it is given to you already, but for the most part, actors will have a choice to make as they become professionals.
In 1933, with the establishment of the Screen Actors Guild, it became a practice that every actor must have a different name. This was largely to avoid confusion in credits, help track residuals and legal paperwork, and establish the authority of a particular performer.
The practice continues to this day and has been a part of Hollywood’s journey for almost a century, meaning many of your favourite actors have had to change their names to a stage name. Michael Keaton was famously born Michael Douglas, while Emma Stone’s birth name is actually Emily Stone.
Sometimes, though, the name change comes directly from the studio. In the early days of Hollywood name changes would often happen to make an actor sound more “American”, which usually meant removing the ethnic origin of their name, perhaps the most famous example being that of Rita Hayworth, who was born Margarita Carmen Cansino, but was forced by the studio to change her name to appease mainstream audiences.
Harrison Ford has experienced both scenarios. He started out life as a carpenter before making the move into becoming a professional actor. During an interview alongside Ryan Gosling for Blade Runner 2049, Ford opened up about his own stage name experiences.
Gosling, clearly knowing the story beforehand, prompted the iconic Star Wars actor to share his naming tale. “Didn’t you have a stage name at one point?” Gosling asks, with Ford replying: “There was a Harrison Ford when I went to sign up for the Screen Actors Guild. I got the first three jobs — you can do three jobs without having to be a member of the Screen Actors Guild. I went to the Screen Actors Guild, and they said ‘Sing this blah blah blah'”.
“‘They said, wait, wait, wait, you can’t be Harrison Ford.'” Perplexed, Ford asked, “Why not?” to be informed of their now hallowed practice. A Harrison Ford already existed in the guild. “Turns out he was this 93-year-old who was a silent screen star.” Stumped, Ford used a technicality to get his way and changed his name to “Harrison J Ford”. Now, if you’re sitting here thinking why Gosling would want to hear such a story in an interview, then your answer is coming.
Ford, during the clip, turns to Gosling and asks, “Is that what you were thinking of?” Gosling, stifling a smile, simply replies, “No.” Before Ford, admitting defeat, he looks to the camera and shares the name he suggested when pushed by the studio for something other than Ford: “Kurt Affair”.
“I said I’ll change my name to Kurt Affair,” he shared, thinking they might accept the idea, “and then they said, ‘Get the fuck out of here. Goodbye.'” The crew burst into laughter as Ford admits the stage name, which feels closer to the name of an extremely low-budget porn star than Ford’s position as one of the most profitable names in Hollywood.
You might be able to argue that the change between being called Emma Stone and Emily Stone is negligible, and perhaps the same for Keaton and Douglas. But nobody can say with a straight face that Kurt Affair would become the Harrison Ford we know and love today.
