Harrison Ford Isn't Here To Talk About Money | Letterman

my first guest once dropped out of acting for eight years to work as a carpenter when he returned to acting he starred in films that have so far grossed a billion dollars or so his latest film opening this week is blade runner please welcome harrison ford [Applause] [Music] [Applause] thank you very much for being here thank you for asking me let me um ask you a question about what it's like to be a contract player for a movie studio uh you did that huh yeah it's an adventure from another world that was uh it was 1965 and and they were doing uh stuff that they'd figured out in 1940 you know it was totally inappropriate to the to the time to the people i think that and they were trying to build stars i don't think you can do that so you you go out to hollywood and somehow they hire you on i went to be an actor and uh uh i did a couple of plays before that but i basically had no preparation whatsoever i didn't even know what the names of the major motion picture studios were and then about a year and a half later i was uh under contract and now you own a couple i would guess what is that is that is there good money in being a contract player and and what are their what do you got to do oh yeah not just money but the respect that's 150 a week yeah when they told me 150 a week i thought and i said yeah i can afford that you know i was so happy to be called an actor yeah that i would have done it for less so anything anything then that they're doing you have to show up and be in right that was the idea yeah any memorable appearances coming to mind no yeah no uh and now we're uh i guess this is when you decided to leave things for a while and you were a carpenter i lasted a year and a half out of a seven-year contract and uh almost uh immediately made the same mistake at universal uh it lasted a year and a half there and then i freelanced for a while that's when i became a carpenter yeah now does that still go on can people still go out there and get hired on to show up in whatever shows they're doing i don't think so yeah i don't think they do that anymore yeah and uh you've come uh millions and millions of miles away from that to the point now where you can go into a dime store in this country and see a uh well maybe a thermal mug a lunch box with maybe with your face on it right as any one of your uh characters does that how does i mean you're going by and you see an indiana jones mug or something is that uh what is that nothing i don't take it personally it does have i don't have any relationship to it i can't figure out what it has to do with me yeah yeah and do you get um that maybe this is not a question but i steal them um do you get anything then i tell them that it's me and it's a very involved you get any dough for that for appearing uh your likeness on those let's not talk about money [Laughter] um okay let's talk about something else then now when you first worked with george lucas was it in american graffiti yeah now uh as i read this afternoon he usually doesn't like to keep using the same folks over and over again but you've worked with him on other occasions no i should i i was real surprised when it happened how did that happen uh i don't think he saw me for star wars until he'd seen every other living actor between the ages of 7 and 35. and then and then he asked me and i tested like everybody else agreed to the conditions yeah and uh did it things turned out pretty well great and and as far as raiders of the lost ark um this was you were not his does this make you feel odd that you were not his first choice for that film either no yeah no it wouldn't have occurred to me that i didn't even know about the project i didn't know spielberg and it it didn't occur to me that that i would have a chance of doing it for the same reason you just uh mentioned do you know anybody who was in the running before you got it for uh raiders mm-hmm just tom selleck yeah that's interesting it's hard to imagine him in that film now although it would have been a different i guess it'd have been a different film wouldn't it yeah yeah okay i uh i know we're going to we're going to pause yes now i was also reading today uh somebody uh publication printed that you were doing your own stunt work on raiders of the lost ark and uh which seemed to be um not true no no i i i don't i wouldn't do a stunt uh there are guys much more prepared to do that than me but and to suffer the consequences yeah but they look pretty dangerous uh uh being pushed around by that truck straddling the front wheel of a difference between doing stunts and doing uh physical action physical acting so you were doing some physical acting and it said that you you prepared yourself the best way you could in in and you mentioned that in even if it uh included uh chemically preparing i didn't say that yeah maybe it was the guy the pope man i was here being silly oh i see just being silly i i i was i don't remember where i said that everyone under what circumstances probably some place like this where one is encouraged to say anything yeah yeah you seem now uh i know you probably uh not most comfortable going around talking about a project you'd probably rather be home wouldn't you yes well yeah uh uh not right now well no i know that feeling uh um but this sort of thing appearing in front of people makes you uncomfortable no no not here not uh with you yeah so uh you would say then that you are having the time of your life now huh more or less yeah and now do you still do a lot of carpentry work uh no no i don't have much time when i get home uh uh i i i like very much to do it but i just don't have a big enough block of time to do it mm-hmm and and by carpenter you could build a house if you wanted to could have you built a house uh no i i've i confined myself to smaller projects same things are involved harrison ford is here with us of course we're going to take a look at some footage from his new motion picture the blade runner also in this half hour a tour of times square and uh the president of ronco teleproducts ronald popeel you guys did a couple of films together i know i'm back yeah um what is the blade runner what does that title mean it's the name of the police unit to which uh the character i play is a sign and is this a uh a movie that takes place in the future present 40 years in the future uh on earth in uh recognizable surroundings not so much science fiction as a little bit of futurism blended with a detective story how do things seem to be 40 years from now it's no musical comedy david [Laughter] it's uh but it's a it's a vision of the future that's uh that's an idea for a movie it's a it's a complex of ideas that are useful in making a movie it starts uh from a point of departure uh in science as we know it now and projects a few [Music] possible changes and as you said in recognizable surroundings yeah and this is based on a very popular novel right yeah on an on an incident from philip k dick's do androids dream of electric sheep all right and we have uh uh it's an amusing title but it's not necessarily an amusing film or is it maybe it is well no it's not it's not calculated to be amusing but hopefully it's engaging and stimulating and uh right and full of uh wonderful ideas right and as you said it's based only on an episode from that book right and the motion picture opens this week or the end of this week the end of this week and then after that we can look forward to you in the third star wars film correct yes that comes out may of next year and so you're all finished with that project now that the story concludes itself in this third chapter terrific uh it was a pleasure meeting you and thank you very much for your time thanks for having me i certainly enjoyed it comparison forward thank you [Music]

Channel: Letterman

Views: 645,339

Keywords: letterman, david letterman, dave letterman, interview, letterman interview, letterman official, letterman late show, letterman late night, late night

Id: mHIt8GfqL94

Length: 9min 22sec (562 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 01 2022

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[u/CaptainSharpe]

I saw this video just now - and without seeing this post I thought exactly the same thing.

He's always been off in interviews but i thought that's because he's a bit anxious and also very private.

But in this one - it's like he hasn't yet learnt to keep his anxiety at bay and his masking is off a bit. He's having trouble with eyecontact. His monotone voice comes across as his 'real' voice rather than an act he puts on in interviews (which I think he tries to convey it as an act in interviews as a way to mask that it's him?)

Anwyay interesting. He's dyslexic, too, and that can often be comorbid with adhd/autism

He looks like I feel in conversations.

[u/Zealousideal_Ad6762]

I just saw an interview where he is stemming with his fingers. He's got to be neurodivergent