MovieChat Forums > Jurassic Park (1993) Discussion > Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford

posted 2 years ago by enriquesingh (1783)
8 replies | jump to latest

How close did he come to actually playing Dr. Alan Grant and why did he reject the movie?

Do you think he regrets it (since it became at the time the highest grossing movie of all time) and was also a pretty darn good movie... a classic!

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There's artwork where it seems like the artists had been told to use him as illustration for the character.

Since I was a kid I've read that he was offered the role... he disliked the idea of having to wear the hat since it resembled Indiana Jones (a costume accessory he was also unsure about wearing when he played a role in Cowboys & Aliens - he tried to choose the least Indy looking hat available for that movie)... I can't believe that was the ONLY reason.

[–] spurtle467 (1520) 2 years ago

I don't know how close he came as I hadn't even heard about this before. In terms of him regretting it, I can't see Ford regretting much when it comes to his film career, he's been rather blessed. And besides, would him being cast in Jurassic Park have interfered with him working on The Fugitive? I think that's as good a movie as Jurassic Park, if not better.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7515) 2 years ago

I agree. The possibility of Harrison Ford not starring in the Fugitive is sad to think about.

[–] MovieChatUser497 (18943) 2 years ago

Honestly I can only think of 5 films where Ford actually looked like he gave a shit: Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, Raiders, Temple of Doom and Blade Runner 2049. I’m glad he wasn’t in Jurassic Park because he would probably be half assing it. Neil did a great job.

[–] Choderboy (26) 2 years ago

Frantic
The Fugitive
Witness
Bruno
I felt he nailed these roles as well.

[–] Tommy (185) 2 years ago

I think Bruno was probably the most proud he was the appear in a film!

[–] PaladinNJ (20699) 2 years ago

Grant was modelled after Indiana Jones, but I never heard that Ford was even offered the role. Seems to me he would have been out of the price range.

[–] enriquesingh (1783) 2 years ago

It was a Steven Spielberg movie... the budget for JP was in the 60 million range, back in the early 90s I doubt Ford would command more than 10-15 million... which would place the budget in the mid 70 million range, I'm pretty sure they would have paid him since many other big budget movies had similar budgets back then.

In what should be a surprise to absolutely no one, Spielberg star Harrison Ford was approached to play Dr. Alan Grant. Like Neill, Ford has an extremely decorated resume, but is most remembered for his roles as the titular "Indiana Jones" and Han Solo in the "Star Wars" films. During a Q&A event following a 30th anniversary screening of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in 2011, Ford cracked a joke about how Spielberg "only hires [him] for Indiana Jones,'" to which Spielberg immediately rebuffed and confessed he had offered the role of Dr. Alan Grant to Ford before approaching anyone else.

[–] PaladinNJ (20699) 2 years ago

Thank you. I really didn’t know that.