2008 Woodie Awards
Actor Harrison Ford is still reaching higher
Bryan O'Toole
Issue date: 2/9/06 Section: Arts and Entertainment
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Millions of children have grown up around the world watching Harrison Ford. His two most famous characters-Han Solo and Indiana Jones-are an integral part of beloved sagas for old and young alike.
His rugged face and grizzled voice have been all over celluloid for the past thirty years.
Even with all this early exposure, Ford still believes it's necessary to promote his films to the youth of America.
In a recent interview with The Beacon, Ford said that he was targeting younger audiences in order to introduce himself to a new generation.
"To be frank, I've continued to age," the 63-year-old said, noting that a lot of the teenage and twenty-something crowd wanted to see actors closer in age.
In his latest film, Firewall (see review below), Ford plays a bank security expert who has to help criminals (led by Paul Bettany) break in and steal the money after they take his family (including Virginia Madsen) hostage.
Firewall is designed to be a fun, popcorn action movie; Ford said he believes that it is difficult to deal with serious themes in a movie.
"You may talk around the issue, but it's tough to create an argument in film that changes how people behave," he said.
He cites both To Kill a Mockingbird and current Oscar nominee Good Night, and Good Luck as examples of dealing with tough issues successfully.
Ford has starred in some of his own serious pictures, including K-19: The Widowmaker.
The film, however, was not a financial success, and Ford names one reason for its failure.
"The audience was less interested in me ... playing a Russian submarine captain, an enemy of the United States," he said.
Ford said he tries to deliver what the audiences do want in each film he makes, because he realizes the baggage that comes with his high profile.
"Actors become brands," he said, and, as a result, he feels responsible to make a "film that meets their [moviegoers] expectations."
His rugged face and grizzled voice have been all over celluloid for the past thirty years.
Even with all this early exposure, Ford still believes it's necessary to promote his films to the youth of America.
In a recent interview with The Beacon, Ford said that he was targeting younger audiences in order to introduce himself to a new generation.
"To be frank, I've continued to age," the 63-year-old said, noting that a lot of the teenage and twenty-something crowd wanted to see actors closer in age.
In his latest film, Firewall (see review below), Ford plays a bank security expert who has to help criminals (led by Paul Bettany) break in and steal the money after they take his family (including Virginia Madsen) hostage.
Firewall is designed to be a fun, popcorn action movie; Ford said he believes that it is difficult to deal with serious themes in a movie.
"You may talk around the issue, but it's tough to create an argument in film that changes how people behave," he said.
He cites both To Kill a Mockingbird and current Oscar nominee Good Night, and Good Luck as examples of dealing with tough issues successfully.
Ford has starred in some of his own serious pictures, including K-19: The Widowmaker.
The film, however, was not a financial success, and Ford names one reason for its failure.
"The audience was less interested in me ... playing a Russian submarine captain, an enemy of the United States," he said.
Ford said he tries to deliver what the audiences do want in each film he makes, because he realizes the baggage that comes with his high profile.
"Actors become brands," he said, and, as a result, he feels responsible to make a "film that meets their [moviegoers] expectations."
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