“It didn’t make any sense to me”: why Harrison Ford never subscribed to method acting
Method Acting has become the buzzword in Hollywood and is a sure fire way for actors to be nominated for awards and lauded for their performances. Many of the most critically acclaimed actors of our time, including Christian Bale, Daniel Day Lewis and Joaquin Phoenix, employed the intense approach for their most famous roles, attempting to embody their characters completely, physically and mentally. And yet, once in a while, there comes along an actor like Harrison Ford who doesn’t buy into the method behind the madness.
The maverick movie star is renowned for frequently disparaging the more academic approaches to the art form. After all, Ford is renowned for his leading man roles in blockbusters from the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, including his roles as Han Solo in Star Wars and the titular character in Indiana Jones.
When asked by Backstage whether he subscribes to a particular acting method or technique, such as Meisner, he said bluntly, “I don’t even know what Meisner technique is.” He went on to explain that when he was contracted under Columbia Pictures, he had to attend acting classes every day and that “frankly, [he] never knew what the hell they were talking about. It didn’t make any sense to me; I couldn’t figure it out.”
This may explain why he found it so difficult to get his career off to the right start. After becoming enamoured with acting in his final year of college, he set out to make a career for himself but ended up becoming a carpenter to make money. He has even been passed up for more serious roles, with directors often doubting his acting chops.
But Ford remains unbothered, stating, “I’m not looking for vindication; I’m looking for work.” The method behind his work seems to be simply letting the story dictate the character’s actions. Explaining this approach further, he said, “I think what I finally had to do was find my own way. And that was to hold very close to what needed to be done. For me, it never became about performance; it became clear to me that the strongest position was to be alloyed to the story.”
This nonchalant approach seems to have worked well for the actor, with his performance in Witness earning him multiple award nominations, his beloved character performances gaining him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and his holding the title of highest-grossing box office star from 1977-1997.
But to him, that doesn’t necessarily matter either, as he doesn’t hold himself accountable for the success of the films he’s starred in: “But whose fault was that? My fault or George Lucas’ fault or Steven Spielberg’s fault or Alan Pakula’s fault or Mike Nichols’ fault? It’s a collaborative enterprise, and you can’t take credit.” Ford’s approach endears him even more to his fans and brings into question why so many directors didn’t have faith in him, as he seems to hold the refreshing opinion that every film is better than the sum of its parts.
