Harrison Ford
The carpenter who became Han Solo. Harrison Ford was working as a carpenter when George Lucas hired him to read lines for Star Wars auditions. How that led to stardom.
At a Star Wars premiere in London, 2015: Sassy, CC BY 3.0
A slow start
Harrison Ford's road to stardom was long. In 1964, after a summer of stage work in Wisconsin, he moved to Los Angeles and signed with Columbia Pictures' new talent program, which paid young actors a small weekly salary to play bit parts.
The roles were tiny, and studio bosses were not impressed. When the French director Jacques Demy wanted Ford to lead his film Model Shop (1969), the head of Columbia reportedly said Ford had no future in the business, and the part went to someone else.
Picking up the tools
Unhappy with the parts he was offered, Ford taught himself carpentry to support his young family. He became good enough to work as a professional, and his clients included people in the film industry, among them the director Francis Ford Coppola, who hired him to work on his offices.
Carpentry gave Ford something many struggling actors lack: an income that let him turn down roles he did not believe in while he waited for better ones.
The audition that was not an audition
The casting director Fred Roos championed Ford and got him an audition with George Lucas for American Graffiti (1973), where he played a cocky drag racer. A few years later Lucas asked Ford to read lines with the actors who were auditioning for Star Wars.
Ford was only meant to help others try out, but Lucas was won over by his line readings and cast him as the smuggler Han Solo. Star Wars (1977) became one of the most successful films ever made.
A record run of hits
Ford followed Han Solo with another iconic adventurer, Indiana Jones, beginning with Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). He also starred in Blade Runner (1982), and his role as a police detective in Witness (1985) earned him his only Oscar nomination.
His honors include the AFI Life Achievement Award and the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and in 2023 the Cannes Film Festival surprised him with an Honorary Palme d'Or. Not bad for a carpenter.
Lessons from a late bloomer
Ford was in his mid-thirties when Star Wars opened, older than many first-time leading men. His story is often told to young actors as proof that a career can take off late.
It is also a reminder that a steady day job can buy an actor the freedom to wait for the right role instead of taking every small part.
