American Graffiti Gossip Gave Harrison Ford A Bad Rapport With The Star Wars Crew
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
Thanks to the release of "Star Wars" in 1977 — before it had any episode number or subtitle — Harrison Ford was transformed from being a mostly unknown character actor into cinema's ultimate cool guy. He was the roguish hero who could approach everything with a wink and a smirk, putting forth the veneer of someone whose loyalties you question but ultimately know will do the right thing. Not only did it change the trajectory of the actor's career, helping to make him one of the biggest movie stars in the world for the next nearly 50 years, but it redefined a new template for a character that every adventure movie tried to replicate thereafter.
The thing that is important to remember, though, is that Harrison Ford isn't Han Solo. Nor is he Indiana Jones or Richard Kimball. He is Harrison Ford, a regular human being whose has a range of regular human qualities that vary from good to bad. He isn't a god. He's a dude, and back in those days, he was a young dude. And as is the case with many young dudes, he got up to some shenanigans in his time, the kind that I have no doubt makes him happy that social media didn't exist half a century ago.
One such person aware of the actor's rowdier side was producer Gary Kurtz. "Star Wars" was his first production as the lead producer, but he had served as a co-producer a few years earlier on George Lucas' "American Graffiti." Harrison Ford may have had a pretty small role on that film, but that didn't stop him from leaving his impression on Kurtz off-screen. To the point where Kurtz wanted to make sure everyone in his new film was en garde for the antics Ford might have engaged in.
Reputation or reality?
Although it's a fairly meandering hangout movie, the production of "American Graffiti" was kind of a mess. Not only did the film endure many normal logistical nightmares that any lower budgeted movie faces, but some of the actors didn't make it any easier. As recounted in Dave Pollock's book "Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas," Harrison Ford and fellow actors Paul Le Mat and Bo Hopkins were the "ringleaders for the goodnatured chaos." Pollock writes:
"They drank large quantities of beer while waiting between takes in their cars, urinated in the motel ice machines, and conducted climbing races to the top of the local Holiday Inn sign. Lucas remembers one of the actors setting fire to his room one evening."
Gary Kurtz bore witness to all of this, and if that is your image of Harrison Ford, it makes complete sense why you would be hesitant to have that guy coming over to England for months to be one of the leads in your new film. Ford knew this was his reputation, but he refutes that it's true. In "The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive History Behind the Original Film" by J.W. Rinzler, Ford states:
"I heard that Gary had prepped certain members of the English production group with information that I might be very difficult to deal with ... That was based on his experience with me on 'American Graffiti,' where most of Paul LeMat's antics were pinned on me."
As for the truth of Ford's rowdy behavior, I bet it lies somewhere in the middle between the two extremes, not a menace or saint. Kurtz left the "Star Wars" films after "The Empire Strikes Back" but not on account of Ford. The split he had with George Lucas is far more complicated.