There are plenty of great Hollywood casting what-ifs, but few are as easy to picture as Harrison Ford playing Dr. Alan Grant in Steven Spielberg’s “Jurassic Park.” After all, Ford had already become the face of Spielberg and George Lucas’ “Indiana Jones” franchise, and the leap from archaeology to paleontology was not exactly impossible to imagine.
READ MORE: Five Versions Of ‘Jurassic Park’ You Never Saw
But Spielberg has now added a little more feeling to that long-circulated bit of casting trivia. During a recent appearance on Happy Sad Confused to promote his latest film, the existential threat UFO thriller “Disclosure Day” (read our review), the filmmaker was asked whether Ford really turned down the role of Alan Grant in “Jurassic Park.” “Yes, he did,” Spielberg said. “He may not remember that, but I sure do.” Asked if he was upset with Ford, Spielberg joked, “I wasn’t cross, I was crushed.”
Of course, things worked out pretty well. The role ultimately went to Sam Neill, who starred opposite Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and Richard Attenborough in the 1993 blockbuster. Spielberg said Neill’s casting quickly erased the disappointment. “But then Sam Neill became available,” he said, adding that Neill was “unbelievable” and that “he’s Alan Grant.” Spielberg continued, “It now belongs to him. You can’t imagine anyone else now.”
Ford’s almost-casting has been public for years, but has largely been forgotten. Spielberg previously revealed in 2011 that he had first offered Alan Grant to Ford after the actor joked that Spielberg only hired him for “Indiana Jones.” But this latest answer makes the anecdote a little more personal, underlining that Ford was not just one of several names floating around the project, but someone Spielberg clearly wanted for the part.
Still, it is hard to argue with the version we got. Neill’s wary, dryly funny, kid-averse scientist became one of the defining human anchors of the “Jurassic Park” franchise, returning for “Jurassic Park III” and “Jurassic World Dominion.” Ford, meanwhile, stayed busy enough with another Spielberg adventurer who hated snakes almost as much as Alan Grant hated raptors.
Watch the full interview below.
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