We live in a remake and reboot culture. Will Smith is playing a genie role made famous by Robin Williams in Aladdin. Robert Pattinson reportedly has been cast as the next Batman, the latest in a long line. And even one of Harrison Ford’s most iconic roles, Han Solo, was played by the younger Alden Ehrenreich in Ron Howard’s Solo: A Star Wars Story. Almost any role can be recast, right? Well, not quite.
Perhaps Harrison Ford is annoyed that Han Solo was played by someone else. Because the veteran screen icon appeared on The TODAY Show this morning and was asked who he would like to see as the next Indiana Jones when he’s ready to hang up the whip and fedora. And Ford honestly answered:
Nobody is going to be Indiana Jones. Don’t you get it? I’m Indiana Jones. When I’m gone, he’s gone. It’s easy!
Ford was being playful, but he was also making it very clear. The role of Indiana Jones will always be his, and none of these young upstarts should be sizing themselves up for the archaeologist’s signature leather jacket any time soon. In fact, as the interview continued, Harrison Ford hilariously added:
This is a hell of a way to tell Chris Pine this. I’m sorry man!
That’s great. Perhaps this was a dig at the fact that Chris Pine did take one of Harrison Ford’s classic roles when he played Jack Ryan in the Tom Clancy story Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. Or maybe it’s Ford always being asked about which young actor is going to move into his signature roles?
We have heard, over the years, the name Chris Pratt associated with the Indiana Jones role, maybe with him stepping in for a prequel story. However, as the casting of Alden Ehrenreich proved with Solo: A Star Wars Story, Ford leaves VERY big shoes to fill, and very few have the same on-screen charisma and swagger to play the parts that he has created.
If I were an up-and-coming actor, the last thing I’d want to do is try to redo Indiana Jones, a character who is so closely associated with Ford that anyone other than Harrison in the role feels like a crime. So you know what? Don’t do it. Listen to Harrison. When he’s gone, Indy is gone. I think fandom would be OK with that.
Here’s Ford, dropping truth bombs all over the set of The TODAY Show.
Harrison Ford isn’t ready to retire the role of Indiana Jones just yet. Disney has a release date for an untitled Indiana Jones 5 on July 9, 2021. Steven Spielberg is expected to direct, and Ford will be back in the lead. Since Ford is currently 76, we’re going to keep guessing that this will be his last time playing Indy, but we have assumed that in the past, and Ford has proven us wrong, so we shall see.
