Harrison Ford - Interview

A «good guy» who never fails to save the day? Nothing, judging from Harrison Ford’s latest film, could be further from the truth. In Deauville to present What lies Beneath, Ford refused to reveal the secrets of his new and controversial character. Yet he stated his determination to take on the most varied roles he could.

P.D: What inspired the duplicity of your new character?

H.F: The screenplay has a very good architecture to establish the appearance of normality, and the dramatic circumstances which reveal the history of a seemingly normal and happy marriage. As things develops, you understand that there is more to the story –hence what lies beneath. I don’t want to go to far, not to give away every secret to the audience. This character is not what he seems. I think it was useful to the dramatic construction that the audience expect me to be what they are used to seeing. If Kevin Spacey were playing this part it wouldn’t be as helpful to the way the story unfolds.

P.D: You started your career with action movies. In the last ten years you have been doing serious movies. Are you returning now to pure comedy?

H.F: I don’t think it’s dangerous to play different kinds of characters. In fact, I think that if people have an expectation, it is absolutely necessary to experiment with different kinds of characters and different kinds of stories. I made my first successes in films that were of a certain type. I took advantage of these successes to appear in other movies, from the very beginning. But I am remembered for the most commercially successful.

P.D: Apart from being an actor, you are also a keen pilot. Could you compare the two in any way?

H.F: You can say about flying and acting that they are both a question of skill which you have to acquire and maintain in order to be effective There are films in which the circumstances of the character are such that if you want to be honest about the character.

Philippine Dautun