Harrison Ford reveals unexpected way he supported his family during 15-year acting slump
Topics: Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Hollywood, Celebrity
Kiesha Dosanjh
Featured Image Credit: Dominique Charriau/WireImage
Topics: Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Hollywood, Celebrity
Even the best actors have a slump in their career, as Indiana Jones star Harrison Ford opened up about his difficult 15-year-slump - and how he made money to overcome it.
It’s hard to believe that Harrison Ford’s career ever had a low point. He’s been on the big screen since 1966, playing a minor role in crime thriller Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round.
His career continued to soar from there, with his breakthrough role coming just seven years later, when he starred in American Graffiti in 1973.
The first Indiana Jones movie with Ford as the main role then released in 1981, and went on to star in all five feature films. And, how can we forget his role as Han Solo in the Star Wars franchise.
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Ford is now known as one of the most iconic actors in Hollywood, but he went through struggles to get there, he’s revealed.
Recalling his early days, during commencement speech at Arizona State University, as per Entertainment Weekly, Ford said: “acting was not yet paying the bills”.
Ford signed a deal with Columbia Pictures, which started his career in Hollywood, after joining of Ripon's theater department in 1964.
The Star Wars icon became a father for the first time in 1966, giving birth to son Benjamin, with then wife Mary Marquardt.
He then revealed he took on carpentry jobs on the side to support his family during those times and to ‘put food on the table’.
“I only took acting jobs when the part challenged me,” he said, adding that this time in his life went on for 15 years.
Carpentry was his main job, as he told the crowd he only did ‘four or five acting jobs’ during this time. What’s more, these included both American Graffiti and thriller The Conversation, which also starred Gene Hackman. Three years later, his life changed forever when he landed his role in Star Wars.
In fact, what some may not know is that carpentry helped him land his role in American Graffiti, after his client, and casting director Fred Roos, recommended him to George Lucas, who also created the Star Wars franchise.
As his career took off, and he landed Indiana Jones, Ford told the crowd he still felt that ‘something was missing’.
He found that missing piece in 1980, when he met a group in Wyoming, who were the brains behind Conservation International.
In 1991, Ford joined the nonprofit, helping to protect forests and oceans as vice-chair, and over 30 years later, is still part of the organization.
Talk about multi-tasking!