Purchase AJA Io XT for broadcast-quality capture, monitoring and output for Avid and receive free Eye Scream Factory presets to quickly add stunning effects to your productions. Pair Io XT with Avid, MacBook Pro and Thunderbolt storage for a no-compromise
more...
For a limited time, Digistor is including Digital Tutors online training with every commercial 3ds Max or Maya purchased* giving you and your team access to the world's largest online CG training library for free.
more...
Grass Valley and Corsair Solutions are proud to announce that, as part of a special competitive upgrade promotion, users of Apple's Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere, and Avid's Media Composer can now upgrade to EDIUS 6 nonlinear editing software for just...
more...
IF and the Sydney Film Festival are giving away a Flexi10 worth $137
more...
Your Vote
Do you agree that the producer offset should be raised from 20 to 40 per cent for television?
Yes
No
|
Harrison Ford on Indiana Jones
[Wed 22/10/2008 02:23:02]
By Donna Walker-Mitchell
Photo Credits: David James 20 years later, Harrison Ford is back as the legendary Indiana Jones. Smoke and Mirrors sat down recently with the 65-year-old star in Santa Monica, California, not far from his Brentwood home, to find out more about how he felt about working on his latest installment.
Harrison talks here about teaming up again with George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, working with Cate Blanchett and why, even after all these years, he still feels the need to do his own stunts.
SM: How did you feel about getting back into the iconic Indiana Jones khakis 20 years later? HF: It felt good. The best news was that everything still fitted well. I didn’t need to go back and watch any of the old Indiana Jones movies before filming. It’s all in the hat and the rest of that gear. You put it on and you’re good to go.
SM: What has changed for Indiana over the years? HF: We are no longer confronting the Nazis. There’s a new set of bad guys and a different context for the adventure to take place in. Also, I’m 20 years older.
SM: You’ve said that Indiana Jones is very close to you. Can you elaborate on that? HF: With every character that you play you only have yourself to inform you. Every character is like me. I’m not a rubber nose actor. The audience doesn’t like me doing that sort of stuff, I think - as much I know about what they like. They vote with their dollars. You work out of your own emotional kit bag. For instance, I see a great difference between Indiana Jones and Han Solo. I just thought Han Solo was a little dumb. Not self aware at all.
SM: What was it like working with Cate Blanchett as Agent Spalko? HF: It was wonderful working with Cate Blanchett. She’s a great actress and a really easy person to work with. Agent Spalko is incredibly bad, that’s all I’ll say. I remember on one occasion, I had not seen her out of that wig and costume until about the third week and when she wandered onto the set I didn’t know who she was! She was great. She made a fantastic foil and I enjoyed working with her very much.
SM: What was the stunt work like for you this time around? HF: Well, these days they’ve figured out a way to make it safer for us. That was the big difference. Shia (LaBeouf) and I had a kind of flying suit, which had a custom-built harness that allowed them to attach a wire depending on what we were doing and where we were going. This was used in case something went wrong. If it did, then it worked as a safety that they could pull us out of it with. That safety was a big difference because we never used to do that. SM: What can we expect from the stunt work in Crystal Skull? HF: They’re a big part of the movie and it’s a lot more fun to be consistent with the character through those moments. You carry an emotional connection with the audience through those moments, so I think it is very important that you see my face, instead of the back of a stuntman’s head.
SM: How much do you like working with George Lucas and Steve Spielberg? HF: They make movies that I think are a much better description of their characters, their interests and their nature than I could put words around. But I really love working with both George and Steven.
SM: Can you describe what it was like behind the scenes of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? HF: It was great. It took 80 days and I had one day off. Every day I went to work anticipating a good time and we all did just that. The actors were superb. Steve has got everything so organised that it’s really a pleasure going to work on one his movies. The Indiana Jones films are unique. There’s nothing like it out there and this film is no exception.
