Friday, February 15, 2013

The Wisdom of Harrison Ford

This is from Bravo's Inside the Actor's Studio from a few years ago. I think it's the first time I really saw Harrison Ford, the actor, instead of Harrison Ford, the larger-than-life movie star.

In one of those weird coincidence things, the same day I watched this, DH commented how different I was online as "Alter Ego" versus "Suzan Harden". Then listening to the interview, I realized I unconsciously used some of the acting techniques Mr. Ford talks about to get into the skin of both Alter Ego and my characters, like Sam Ridgeway. It's exhilarating and scary as hell at the same time.

4 comments:

  1. I just watched that. You need to get that I don't watch many videos online, and never long ones, but I've loved Harrison Ford as an actor since I saw him in Star Wars when I was fourteen, and so I figured I'd give it a shot and see if it was interesting. Then the credits were rolling. [wry smile]

    Great stuff. One thing that struck me is that he seemed to be pretty nervous through the whole thing. We expect actors, certainly actors of his stature, to be very confident, out there, constantly projecting charisma, etc. He didn't look at the audience much, spent most of his time looking down, at his lap or his hands or the floor or wherever. He obviously knows his stuff, but he doesn't seem comfortable just hanging out -- maybe the large, live audience is what did it? But that was interesting to see. I guess that goes along with his being a private person when he's not actually acting.

    Angie

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  2. I think one of the things I love about Ford, and what makes him such an incredible actor, is the fact that it's not about him. He's not the egomaniacal "LOOK AT ME" narcissist that so many "stars" in Hollywood are.

    He shows this nervous behavior in all of his interviews and personal appearances, and his discomfort level rises in proportion with the number of people in the room. The most relaxed interview I've seen was with Barbara Walters, and she made a point of filming it in his home in Wyoming with minimal techs. Then when he was awarded the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement award in a huge auditorium, you could see the poor guy shaking at the podium.

    Glad he was interesting enough you watched it all, Angie!

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  3. Same old song on my end. No sound on this computer. And I'm too lazy to get up and go to the other side of the office, where Tim's computer is.

    Heck, it's not even on the other side, it's nearly just a few bits over.

    But still. My chair is warm and comfy.

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  4. It's only worth getting out of your comfy chair if you've had a major crush on Harrison Ford since you were eleven. *grin*

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