Harrison Ford, in Australia on a promotional journey for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, returns as Han Solo in the seventh film in the iconic movie series. Photo/Getty
Harrison Ford, in Australia on a promotional journey for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, returns as Han Solo in the seventh film in the iconic movie series. Photo/Getty
He's on an intensely scrutinised promotional tour for the year's biggest movie event - but Harrison Ford doesn't want Star Wars fans to listen to a word he says.
"I really want people to go into the theatre not forewarned about what's coming," says Ford, who returns to his most loved movie character, Rebel leader Han Solo, in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, due out next week.
"I want them to have the surprise of participating in a film rather than being told about it."
Speaking to the NZ Herald at Sydney's Park Hyatt hotel, Ford, 73, advised nervous fans eagerly waiting for the release of the hyped film to stick their fingers in their ears and find out as little as possible.
"Just wait. It'll be fine," he says. "Christmas is coming."
Directed by J. J. Abrams, Kiwis will be among the first in the world to see A Force Awakens when it opens here on December 17, a day earlier than most other territories.
The film, the first of many Star Wars projects planned by Disney, sees the cast of the original trilogy return, including Ford as Solo, Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia (now General Organa), and Mark Hamill, whose role is a carefully guarded secret.
It also includes little known actors in major roles, including John Boyega as Finn, Daisy Ridley as Rey, Adam Driver as Kylo Ren and Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron.
Ford praises the new cast, as well as the film - "It's a wonderful movie," he told Good Morning America - but he wouldn't be drawn on plot specifics when pressed.
Are there surprises? "Oh I should think so," he replied. Would fans of the original trilogy be shocked by anything that happens? "Surprised," he repeated, after a lengthy pause.
Harrison Ford takes a stroll during his Star Wars promotional visit to Sydney. Photo/Getty
Ford's original role in George Lucas' ground-breaking sci-fi trilogy made him a movie star, and he's been working ever since, helming another ongoing movie franchise in Indiana Jones and appearing in high profile films like Blade Runner, Patriot Games, The Fugitive and Clear and Present Danger.
Despite swearing he'd had enough of Han Solo after the last film, 1983's Return of the Jedi, all it took for him to return to Star Wars was a phone call from Lucas, and a decent script.
"I got a phone call from George saying he was thinking of revisiting the stories of the characters in the first three films, and would I in theory be interested? I said, 'Yes, in theory, I would. Do you have a script?' He said, 'Not yet, but we're working on it'.
"I got a script a year later. It was good. JJ (Abrams) became involved. It built on itself in a very satisfying way and I was glad to be involved."
Harrison Ford takes in the sights of Sydney during his promotional visit for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Photo/Getty
The difference to this film, compared to the first, is that no one knew if 1977's A New Hope would be any good, says Ford.
"The surprise of the first film is that it was such a success. I didn't know what all the components of the film were going to come together to make. The effects, the process shots, were part of the visual experience of the film but I wasn't around to see them.
"It was a powerful engine of entertainment (and) the first time I had a significant role in something that was that successful. It gave me a lot of freedom and choices that I hadn't enjoyed before."
Solo is known for his snappy one-liners, his Wookie sidekick Chewbacca and his love affair with Leia, and Ford has an easy way to explain his enduring appeal.
"He holds himself at an ironic distance from the beliefs of everyone around him. When the notion of 'The Force' is introduced, to have him resist this invisible mumbo jumbo stuff gives the audience a voice in the experience, until they learn the Force is real."
As for whether fans would see him playing Solo again in any future Star Wars films or spin-offs, Ford stayed typically shtum.
"It's one of the things I think you should go into the theatre not thinking about."
