The moment Harrison Ford lost his cool on the ‘Star Wars’ set: “Taking a saw to the Millennium Falcon”
For anyone familiar with the stress levels associated with a movie production, accounts of cast and crew members having breakdowns or flying into fits of rage would come across as a given. With everyone chasing a shared vision of what the film can be, even the slightest misstep can throw a huge spanner in the works and instantly destabilise those involved.
From Chevy Chase to Nicolas Cage, there are many famous stories about actors completely losing it and even storming off set because they just can’t take it anymore. However, in Harrison Ford’s case, it took quite a different turn as the Indiana Jones star actually picked up a saw in order to destroy the iconic Millennium Falcon on a Star Wars set.
The source of this crazy anecdote is none other than Mark Hamill himself, who appeared in a feature for Empire and answered questions that fans had written to him about his filmography. When asked about the co-star with whom Hamill shared the best relationship during the shooting of the Star Wars trilogy, it was Ford whom Hamill instantly cited as his favourite.
Recalling the time that Ford got really angry on set, Hamill said: “You heard about Harrison taking a saw to the Millennium Falcon because he got so mad? People were coming up to me. going, ‘You gotta stop Harrison, he’s sawing up the Falcon.’ It was made of wood, and he just took a saw to it. I love Harrison. I got to stop him because I can make him laugh when he gets really, really mad. And I had no stake in it.”
While Hamill was the one who defused the situation with his humour and managed to lighten the mood, the actor claimed that Harrison was the real comedy star on the set of Star Wars. In the same interview, Hamill, revealed that Ford would often come to his dressing room and start doing silly dances when nobody was looking but it would take him a second to get back to his normal serious demeanour the moment someone came knocking.
Highlighting Ford’s comedic chops, Hamill added: “He was with Carrie, and I was still hanging out with Yoda. He’s hilarious. I told him, ‘If you ever play anyone that’s flawed, you’ll win an Oscar.’ But he has this really specific way he wants to be seen, and I think that’s too bad because he’s really funny. He’s got a wonderfully wacky sense of humour.”
The sense of humour that Hamill alludes to is definitely present in many of Ford’s iconic performances, including his outings as Indiana Jones and Han Solo, but even in the later years of his career, it’s something that has remained. One of the best and most recent examples of this is the Apple TV show Shrinking, where he stars alongside the likes of Jason Segel.
Ford delivers a standout performance in the acclaimed series as a senior therapist who is outwardly indifferent and hostile, but secretly cares deeply about his coworkers and the people around him. While not all of the projects in the second half of Ford’s career have been equally noteworthy, Shrinking proves that the Star Wars actor is still capable of giving his best.
