Harrison Ford hates Star Wars. There, it’s been said. This may come as a surprise to some and even be earth-shattering for others, “as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.” But the 79-year-old Golden Globe winner could not be happier that he’s finished with the role that kickstarted his career all those years ago in a galaxy far, far away.
Hate, in all actuality, is a strong word. Dislike may be better suited for Ford’s opinion of his time spent as the smooth-talking smuggler Han Solo. Regardless of how you spin it, it does seem odd that Ford wants as much distance as possible between himself and the part that made him one of Hollywood’s most recognizable stars.
Here’s why Harrison Ford dislikes Star Wars.
First and foremost, he’s old. At 79, Harrison Ford has had a career spanning more than 50 years. That’s an incredibly long time, and as much as it hurts to admit, Ford just has different priorities now. He’s a father and grandfather and life has taken him in a different direction as a result. One could argue that he shouldn’t have to care about one specific role after all of his illustrious accomplishments. What if people were constantly asking you about a finger painting you worked on in grade school? It might get kind of annoying.
Here he is breaking down his career with Vanity Fair in 2020:
It may go without saying, but Harrison Ford has been a part of some of the most notable films in cinematic history⏤ films like the Indiana Jones series, Blade Runner, The Fugitive, and Witness. The Chicago-born actor eventually graduated from Star Wars and cultivated a life for himself away from the shadow created by George Lucas’s brainchild. That’s a hard thing to do, and to tie himself solely to the franchise would have been detrimental to his overall success in the industry. It’s not wrong for him to want to be known for more than just a swashbuckling hero.
In fact, Ford went as far to be an advocate for Han Solo’s death⏤not just in the recent trilogy of Star Wars sequels where (spoiler alert) Han gets killed, but during the original trilogy as well. According to Starpulse, Harrison had this to say:
“I did think the character itself was relatively thin. I would have liked to see some complication for the character; the only complication I didn’t get was to die at the end of the third one. I thought that would have given the whole film a bottom, but I couldn’t talk George into it.”
An argument could be made that Ford never truly hated Star Wars or Han Solo, but rather wanted to make sure the character had genuine purpose. Instead of riding off into the sunset at the end of Return of The Jedi, what if Han had been killed saving the people he loved? To die heroically with a massive amount of character development wouldn’t have been a bad call for the series as a whole. Fate, as it would turn out, had other plans.
Take a look at Ford on Jimmy Kimmel Live! talking about Solo’s untimely demise:
Any way you slice it, Harrison Ford is a cinematic icon. He personifies what it means to be a “movie star” and does so with the same charm as his most iconic characters. For all the fanfare, Star Wars can be a gift and a curse, one that Ford handles with aplomb. In the end, his feelings toward that galaxy far, far away could be considered mixed at best. Yet digging deeper, it becomes clear that Ford’s deep appreciation for the scruffy star pilot knows no bounds. If you think differently, well: “Let’s keep a little optimism here.”
