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For decades now, Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford have brought out the best in each other and their collaboration has given birth to one of the most beloved characters and franchises in fiction. Although all of their collaborations were limited to theIndiana Jonesfranchise, several projects in Spielberg’s filmography almost saw theBlade Runnerstar as the lead.
Apart fromE.T.andJurassic Park, which initially saw theIndiana Jonesstar as the frontrunner to lead these huge blockbusters, the actor was allegedly considered for Spielberg’s most personal project.
Also read:“I don’t remembered what people thought”: Indiana Jones 5 Star Harrison Ford Not Sure if Fans Loved ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’
Steven Spielberg’s reasoning for not involving Harrison Ford inSchindler’s List
Among the long list of critically acclaimed and commercially successful gems thatSteven Spielberghas crafted, one of his most personal projects was 1993’sSchindler’s List. Considering the film was dealing with one of the harshest incidents in mankind’s history, Spielberg was adamant about doing justice to this project and the character of Oskar Schindler, who saves his Jewish employees.
But before theJawsdirector brought Liam Neeson into the mix, reports alleged that he initially consideredHarrison Fordfor the role. Rumors claimed the actor turned down the offer as he felt that a non-Jewish star should be cast in the role. Although the director didn’t tackle the topic directly, he did explain that he never wanted a big movie star in this project to begin with. He explained,
“I didn’t want the distraction of a whole bunch of other movies to cloud this one. It would have been easy, I had the movie stars coming to me for this part. I just didn’t want to go that way.”
Spielberg’s decision to not include big names in this film did work out in his favor, as the film is now widely considered the director’s greatest work, and it also gave Liam Neeson’s career a huge boost.
Also read:Harrison Ford Demanded Gary Oldman Assault Him in $315M Movie: “You don’t want to hurt somebody”
Harrison Ford almost missed out on another Steven Spielberg classic
Despite missing out on several iconic projects of Steven Spielberg, Harrison Ford remained at the forefront of one of the most beloved franchises led by theJawsdirector. However, it seems the actor almost lost thisIndiana Jonestoo, as initially, Spielberg had his eyes set on Tom Selleck for the role of the archaeologist. But due to the actor’s commitment to another TV show, Wallace eventually missed out and Ford was able to grab the opportunity and kickstart his bond with Spielberg.
Also read:Harrison Ford Rejected $63M Steven Spielberg Movie That Made a Billion Dollars Despite Spielberg Fighting His Best Friend to Cast Him in Indiana Jones: “Yeah, but he’s an actor!”
Although theBlade Runnerstar did not make it to 1993’sSchindler’s List, in a beautiful moment, the actor did go on to present the Oscar for Best Picture to Spielberg for the film.
Schindler’s Listis available to stream on Apple TV.
Source:Inside Film
Santanu Roy
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2543
Santanu Roy is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on movies, with over 2,000 articles under his belt. He has been pursuing a degree in Animation and possesses a deep love for the medium of animation. Having spent the better part of the last two years pumping out articles for FW, Santanu excels at covering movie analysis and news surrounding Pixar, DCU, DreamWorks, and Batman’s cinematic legacy.With psychological thrillers and intimate slice-of-life dramas ranking among his favorite genres, Santanu is a big admirer of Luca Guadagnino, Shane Black, Park Chan-wook, and Brad Bird.
