Harrison Ford Is On a Grumpy Roll (original) (raw)

It's a universally acknowledged truth that Harrison Ford is sort of a grump. He's been especially so in his later years, giving hilariously gruff, contentious interviews to various magazines of record.

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It's a universally acknowledged truth that Harrison Ford is sort of a grump. He's been especially grouchy in his later years, giving hilariously gruff, contentious interviews to various magazines of record.

Today, Zach Baron of GQ posted an Ender's Game interview with Ford, who, Baron writes, "manages to give a couple of full-sentence replies." Take for instance, this exchange:

What was it like filming a space movie in the age of CGI? Does it force you to work differently?

No. Acting is about using your imagination.

Is there a trick to making seemingly ridiculous dialogue like “When the aliens first invaded...” work?
Yeah. That's my job. That's why I get paid.

The trajectory of Ford's souring mood is well-traced. Nick Schager at Esquire has painstakingly mapped the actor's path to grumpiness, while IFC's Vadim Rizov has explored how Ford's interview demeanor parallels his iconic performances.

Of late, Ford has been forced to answer questions about reprising the role of Han Solo in J.J. Abrams's upcoming Star Wars sequel. He doesn't love answering those questions, as evidenced by this interview with Yahoo Movies UK:

In September, Ford explained his philosophy on the acting business to John Hiscock of The Mirror in Britain.

He just doesn’t like doing promotional interviews, as I find out when I ask about the movie business.

“I don’t know anything about it. I just work here,” he growls.

“I have tried very hard not to give a rat’s ass about the business part of it because to me it’s the wrong way of looking at it.

"I have always looked at movies as a job.” OK then.

To Ford's credit, he knows his reputation, telling Hiscock, "I’ve always been an independent son of a bitch, so if I’m grumpy, then call me grumpy. I’m all right with that."

Ford is not afraid to call out the industry machine that made him a star. Take for instance, his response to a question about Comic Con, from Adam Sternbergh of The New York Times Magazine. Ford said:

I think the success of Comic-Con is based on the partnership between the fans and the service providers, the entities — I won’t necessarily call them filmmakers — that supply the film product that supports their particular interest, whether it’s vampires or science-fiction fantasies or Transformers or whatever is going on.

And he masterfully responded to the fanboys when attending that event.

And got phone calls during a Con interview with MTV.

There have been many other spectacular Harrison Ford interview moments over his long career, from his 1982 appearance on Letterman, to that time he declared that he's like "old shoes," to when he said he didn't "get" Cowboys & Aliens. But he's also been admirably self-aware, talking honestly about his distaste for dumb questions. So maybe just stop asking Harrison Ford dumb questions.

Or better yet, don't.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.