The short-lived series “too violent for TV” that became Kurt Russell’s career-defining crossroad
Nobody, least of all Kurt Russell, would look back and say he hasn’t had an incredible career, but there was one moment that could have given him a completely different one.
Obviously, he’s done fine, with John Carpenter’s muse and one of Hollywood’s most laid-back veterans remaining in the spotlight since the early 1960s, and even today, he’s headlining blockbuster-sized TV shows and stealing scenes away from his co-stars on the big screen. Once he’d started ageing out of his tenure as a Disney star, though, he had some important decisions to make.
1975’s The Strongest Man in the World, which was released when Russell was a month away from turning 24, would be the last picture he headlined as the studio’s fresh-faced leading man of choice. It would be another five years before he appeared in another feature, with Robert Zemeckis’ Used Cars launching the second act of his professional life.
In between, he popped up in a handful of TV shows, and with the benefit of hindsight, one of them became the ultimate crossroads moment for the actor. In early 1976, Russell was offered the leading role of Morgan Beaudine in the episodic western, The Quest. At the same time, George Lucas was putting together a little film called Star Wars, and he was keen on having the former ‘Mouse House’ favourite audition for both Han Solo and Luke Skywalker.
“I was in there on Star Wars, and I remember asking George one day, ‘Do you think you’re going to use me or not?'” the Escape from New York icon reflected. “And he said, ‘I don’t know what part I prefer you in. I don’t know if I like you as Han and this guy as Skywalker, or this guy as Han and you as Skywalker. I don’t know.'” In the end, Lucas’ deliberation cost Russell his first shot at immortality.
He was a young actor, and he needed money, so he couldn’t hang around forever waiting for the filmmaker to make up his mind. “I said, ‘I gotta make a decision on this western, and I gotta go to work,'” Russell explained. “And he said, ‘I just can’t give you an answer’. So, I said, ‘All right, I’m going to go take this western, and there will be one less guy to think about.'”
Having ruled himself out of Star Wars, The Quest was subsequently cancelled after 11 episodes, with the final four going unaired. The pilot had aired in May 1976, right when the sci-fi blockbuster was in the middle of production, with Russell opting for a series that didn’t even get the chance to finish its first season over what became a cultural phenomenon and the highest-grossing movie of all time.
The official party line was that low ratings were to blame, and while that was probably true, he didn’t necessarily see it that way, with Russell claiming that The Quest “had been cancelled because it was too violent for TV,” not the fact that barely anyone watched it, and the western had fallen out of favour.
Either way, it cost him Star Wars. You can imagine the mid-70s version of Russell as either Han Solo or Luke Skywalker, but his signature brand of roguish, charismatic charm eventually hinted that he’d have been much better suited for the former. He’s had a great career, of that there’s no doubt, but you could also say, without stretching the limits of credulity, that Harrison Ford has had a better one.
