Inside the Actors Studio
Guests 
Harrison Ford
Season 6, Episode 609
Original Airdate: August 6, 2000
Born July 13, 1942 in Chicago, Harrison Ford was an average student who thought he could get an easy A studying drama. That fateful decision led him to Hollywood.
After two studio contracts in the late 50s and 60s which produced several lackluster roles, Harrison Ford turned to carpentry for a living, figuring that his acting career wasn't going anywhere. He returned to film years later for the role of Bob Falfa in George Lucas' 1973 hit American Graffiti. The next year he had a small part in Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation.
However, aside from a few small TV roles, he wasn't getting more acting jobs. Ford was reading scenes with auditioning actresses for George Lucas' next film when the director realized he was perfect for the part of the surly space captain. Lucas cast him as Han Solo in Star Wars (1977), one of the biggest blockbuster hits of all time - and Ford was instantly a Hollywood star. He reprised the role in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983).
At the same time he was starring in this phenomenally successful trilogy, he was originating a role in another. In 1981, Ford first appeared on screen as Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark, directed by Steven Spielberg. He also appeared in Coppola's Vietnam epic, Apocalypse Now (1979), and starred in Ridley Scott's sci-fi classic Blade Runner (1982). Ford took on the role of the adventurous archaeologist again in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).
Between the blockbusters, Ford also played thoughtful roles in Witness (1985) for which he received an Oscar nomination, The Mosquito Coast (1986) and Frantic (1988). He showed a flair for romantic comedy in the hit Working Girl (1988). However, his forte continues to be blockbuster action films: Patriot Games (1992), The Fugitive (1993), Clear and Present Danger (1994) and Air Force One (1997). But he has shied away from the action genre in more recent films, including Six Days, Seven Nights (1998), Random Hearts (1999) and What Lies Beneath (2000).
He is also a pilot, and has played a real-life action hero by helping in several rescue operations.
