If Hercules were to perform his 12 labours today, we’re pretty sure one of them would be ‘get a usable cover feature out of an interview with Harrison Ford.’ Not that the “Indiana Jones” star is an asshole — we’ve always enjoyed the prickliness of his presence, and his dry-to-the-point-of-dehydrated sense of humor. But he’s often taciturn when doing the junket rounds, and his sarcasm doesn’t always translate in print.
So props to GQ’s Chris Heath for putting together a highly enjoyable profile of Ford for the next issue of the magazine, to tie in with the release of “Blade Runner 2049.” It’s full of great quotes, but perhaps the most enjoyable is an exchange in which Ford fills out some context to Ryan Gosling’s claim in the same magazine late last year that Ford had punched him in the face while shooting a scene in Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi sequel.
“I punched Ryan Gosling in the face,” Ford confirms to the magazine. “Ryan Gosling’s face was where it should not have been. His job was to be out of the range of the punch. My job was also to make sure that I pulled the punch. But we were moving, and the camera was moving, so I had to be aware of the angle to make the punch look good. You know, I threw about a hundred punches in the shooting of it, and I only hit him [once]. I have pointed out [that he should be grateful]”
Lest you fear that there’s any real animosity between them, all of the above should be read in the voice of Ford’s bone-dry wit (he also confirms that he apologized to Gosling by giving him a glass of Scotch: “did he fucking expect the whole bottle?”), and the actor has nothing but nice things to say about his younger co-star: “He was fun to work with. I like him a lot. He’s a smart guy.”
Elsewhere, Ford reveals what the upcoming “Indiana Jones 5,” which he believes will shoot in the second half of next year, had to be in order to get him on board (his answer? “Funded.”), and also spills on his unlikely love for Action Bronson’s Viceland food series “Fuck, That’s Delicious.” Head over to GQ for the whole thing, and you can see “Blade Runner 2049” in theaters from October 6th.
