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It’s often repeated that Harrison Ford hates “Star Wars” and Han Solo, the movie and role that made him a star. Ford himself leans into this, such as when he destroyed a Han Solo action figure on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”
Even while first filming the original 1977 “Star Wars,” Ford wasn’t the biggest fan of George Lucas’ script: He memorably exclaimed “George! You can type this s***, but you sure can’t say it!” Granted, it seems less that Ford despises “Star Wars” and more that he’s just unsentimental about it. For him, playing Han Solo was just a successful gig, nothing more, and he’s frustrated by the superfans who insist on always beating the dead tauntaun.
That unsentimental approach showed itself in his comments about being in “Star Wars” to Vanity Fair: “‘Star Wars’ was a big success, so I was happy to come back and play Han Solo again, and again — but that was enough. I thought that he had reached his potential, therefore [he] could serve the story by dying.”
Ford also wasn’t out to be a movie star — acting is a job for him, so he doesn’t revere many of his famous roles, from Han Solo to Rick Deckard in “Blade Runner,” the way his fans do. If he found playing Han Solo dull by “Return of the Jedi” (and you can see that plainly onscreen), he probably would’ve been frustrated by his typecasting as an action star.
Ford tried (and failed) to break that typecasting with Martin Scorsese’s 1991 movie “Cape Fear.” That film, a remake of a 1962 Gregory Peck/Robert Mitchum thriller, follows lawyer Sam Bowden (ultimately played by Nick Nolte). Bowden and his family are harassed by Max Cady (Robert De Niro), a sadistic criminal who Bowden helped put away years earlier for rape. (Bowden was actually Cady’s defense attorney, but was so convinced of his client’s guilt, he sabotaged the defense.)
In a 1997 interview with The Irish Times, Ford mentioned that De Niro asked him to play the part of Bowden. Ford, though, was only interested if he could play Cady. De Niro didn’t want to give up the part, so Ford didn’t do the movie.
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