The Oscar-winning movie Harrison Ford regretfully rejected
Awards season recognition is hardly the barometer of a legendary career, and there are few stars in history to have proven that sentiment better than Harrison Ford.
One of Hollywood’s most towering icons, he’s remained at the top end of the A-list since the late 1970s and headlined a succession of box office behemoths, indisputable classics, and cult favourites, which he’s accomplished without winning so much as a single trophy from any of the major awards season bodies.
Ford’s sole Academy Award nomination came when Peter Weir’s gripping Witness put him in the mix for ‘Best Actor’, but he ended up turning down a role that won an Oscar for the person who ended up playing it. It’s a cruel twist of fate, and it stands out as one of the very few regrets of a career that’s long since grown accustomed to consistent success.
When writer and director Stephen Gaghan was penning the screenplay for political thriller Syriana – a loose adaptation of Robert Baer’s memoir See No Evil – he envisioned the Star Wars and Indiana Jones figurehead playing the part of Bob Barnes. Unfortunately, Ford ended up resisting those overtures and wished he hadn’t once the film was released.
“I saw a bit of Steve Gaghan’s movie Syriana and I wish I’d played the part that was offered to me – George’s part,” he admitted. “I didn’t feel strongly enough about the truth of the material and I think I made a mistake. I think the film underwent some changes and I think a lot of it is very truthful. The things that I thought weren’t, were obviated after I left the table.”
Instead, Ford was left to rue the day he declined the chance to star in Syriana, when replacement George Clooney grew out his beard, packed on 35 pounds, and ended up being named as ‘Best Supporting Actor’ at the following year’s Oscars. To add further insult to injury, Ford didn’t appear in any projects at all in 2005, so his decision to reject the role wasn’t even done in service of another feature.
That wasn’t even the first time Ford had turned down a Gaghan-penned movie, either, after he was offered the chance to play Judge Robert Wakefield in Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic. He met with the director to discuss the character – with Gaghan even reworking certain elements of the script at the star’s request – only for him to decide it wasn’t something he wanted to do.
Of course, Traffic would go on to four of the five Oscars it was nominated for, with Soderbergh picking up the ‘Best Director’ statue. Having missed out on two notable pictures, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to suspect Ford would think a little harder should Gaghan ever approach him with another part.
