Blade Runner director Ridley Scott has recalled a moment that saw those financing the 1982 sci-fi classic questioning the decision to cast Harrison Ford as lead – just a few years after he appeared in Star Wars.
"Harrison Ford was not a star yet. He had just finished flying the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars. I remember my financiers saying: 'Who the fuck is Harrison Ford?'" Scott revealed during a GQ interview. "And I said, 'You’re going to find out.' So, Harry became my leading man."
In Blade Runner, Ford played Deckard, the titular blade runner who is tasked with apprehending a group of rogue replicants. Ford later reprised his role in Denis Villeneuve's sequel Blade Runner 2049 alongside Ryan Gosling.
But, by the time of Blade Runner's filming in 1981, Ford wasn't the household name he is now.
He may have played everyone's favorite scoundrel Han Solo in a galaxy far, far away in 1977's Star Wars and 1980's The Empire Strikes Back, but those pulling the pursestrings would have to wait until midway through 1981 to see Ford as Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark. So, the scepticism may not have been completely unwarranted but, in hindsight, it stands out as almost being one of Hollywood's biggest missteps.
Of course, Ford went on to do pretty well for himself, appearing in multiple future Indiana Jones and Star Wars movies as well as the likes of The Fugitive and Air Force One. He's currently appearing in Apple TV series Shrinking and is stepping into the MCU as the recast Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross in Captain America: Brave New World.
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