Harrison Ford has made a career of starring in big budget tent-pole films from the 1970s to today.  The actor – charismatically plainspoken – grounds all the spectacle that often surrounds him, be it the distant planets of a far-off galaxy, ancient ruins housing untouched treasures or a neon-tinted future where it always seems to rain.  In this week’s new release Ender’s Game (based on the popular book series by Orson Scott Card), Ford once again lends his grumbly gravitas to all the zeros and ones.  Ford stars as Colonel Graff, the militant leader of the human resistance, who uses children to lead a preemptive attack on an alien planet.  Ford ably imbues the steely-eyed Graff with a welcome sense of humor and charm.  Only an actor of Ford’s caliber could take a character as seemingly unpleasant as Graff and somehow make him sympathetic.

In the following interview with Harrison Ford, the actor discusses the differences (or lack thereof) in starring in tent-pole pictures now to as far back as the 1970s, discovering the emotional beats for his character Colonel Graff and the moral complexities of Ender’s Game.  For the full interview, hit the jump.

Harrison Ford:

  • You’ve now starred in effects driven films from the 1970s to the present. How has acting in these tent-pole films changed over time?
  • You have a history with aviation and mentoring young people. Did you draw from these experiences for the role?
  • Ford discusses the moral complexities of his character Colonel Graff.
  • When playing a character as emotionally guarded and distant as Colonel Graff, is it difficult to find the emotional beats where he lets his guard down?
  • When playing a character already established in the literary medium, does Ford look back to the source material for the character?

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