Ridley Scott has been chatting about his experience with 1982’s Blade Runner, and having to explain who Harrison Ford was.
‘Don’t upset Ridley Scott’ is a lesson that some folks have learned the hard way over the decades, because man, that guy can hold a grudge. Given that he recently dusted off his decades-long allegation that 1977’s The Duellists would have won Cannes if the jury hadn’t been bribed, Scott has a long memory when it comes to grievances.
In the decades since Blade Runner released, Scott has frequently offered a scornful take on the role played by the film’s financiers. They infamously took final cut privilege away from him and released a version with a Harrison Ford voiceover (and other changes, including a happy ending). Scott would eventually reverse much of this when his director’s cut (which he would later disown – but that’s another story) emerged in 1992.
However, in a recent sit-down with GQ, Scott introduced a fresh insult to the wide range of barbs that he’s lobbed in that direction over the years, claiming that when he was casting the lead for the film, the film’s investors didn’t know who Harrison ‘Han Solo’ Ford was.
In Scott’s own words:
“Harrison Ford was not a star. He had just finished flying the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars, Scott said. “I remember my financiers saying, ‘Who the cluck [he may not have said ‘cluck’] is Harrison Ford?’ And I said, ‘You’re going to find out.’ Harry became my leading man.”
Is it possible that the film’s investors hadn’t seen or heard of Star Wars at this point, or more specifically, Harrison Ford’s involvement as one of the film’s trio of leading actors? We can imagine that the film’s investors might not have figured out that Raiders Of The Lost Ark – which was in production when Scott cast Ford – would go on to be such a huge hit but not knowing he was in Star Wars, the biggest film in history to that point?
Scott’s claim stretches credulity, but in Hollywood, truth is often stranger than fiction we suppose. Anyway, true or not, Ford got the part and unsurprisingly, he and Scott didn’t get on too well. Probably because Scott kept calling him ‘Harry’.
Next time Scott adds a new arrow to his ever-growing quiver of Blade Runner complaints, we’ll let you know.