The co-star Harrison Ford tried to sabotage in every scene: “I was laughing too much”
Harrison Ford is solidified as every young movie fan’s idea of what stardom looks like based on how many all-time great protagonists he played, and he has a solid sense of humour.
Between Han Solo, Indiana Jones, Jack Ryan, Rich Deckard from Blade Runner, and John Book from The Fugitive, Ford is an incredibly accomplished leading man, but there is also a vulnerability and realism to his performances that make him more compelling than action stars like Sylvester Stallone or Arnold Schwarzenegger, rather playing characters who can be hurt, surprised, and underestimated so they end up feeling like real people.
The actor has always taken a tremendous amount of pride in the Indiana Jones series and played a significant role in shaping the direction of the character, alongside Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, the former of whom did not return to direct the fifth and final film in the franchise, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, with Ford instead turning in his last performance as Indy for director James Mangold. The film was set in the 1960s, where Indy had long since retired and had lost contact with his former allies.
Although the film featured cameos from Karen Allen and John Rhys-Davies as Marion Ravenwood and Sallah, respectively, it gave Indy a new group of allies, including Ethann Isidore as Teddy Kumar, a teenager who helps point him in the right direction when he is lost in Tangier. While understandably most young actors would be intimidated to co-star with a living legend, Kumar said that he was surprised by how funny Ford was.
“When you make Harrison laugh, you do feel really proud of yourself, basically like you could make anyone laugh,” he revealed to Hollywood Reporter, “I had the time of my life making jokes with him, and we’d make fun of each other. I remember James Mangold kept telling me to concentrate because I was laughing too much during one scene, but it was just because Harrison was making faces. So it was all Harrison’s fault.”
Ford’s aptitude for comedy has always been one of his most underrated qualities as an actor, as the physical humour he brought to the original Star Wars and Indiana Jones trilogies is the primary reason why they are so beloved.
Ford had a brief run as a true romantic comedy lead with Working Girl and Sabrina, with the 21st century seeing him taking on even more comedic roles with brief parts in Morning Glory and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, and recently, he’s carved out a new chapter in his career with his acclaimed performance on the Apple TV series Shrinking, which earned him a nomination for ‘Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series’ at the Primetime Emmy Awards.
As for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, it’s a film that might end up ageing better than its initial reputation suggested because of the tremendous expectations that it faced, for while some had wanted a grand, operatic finale that served as the final word on the character, Mangold and Ford simply chose to make another fun adventure, which unabashedly wore its heart on its sleeve.
Even though it might be one of the weaker instalments in the series, the enthusiasm that Ford clearly has for playing the character ensures that it is still well above average.
