At 80, Harrison Ford Scoffed At The Idea Of Retiring Soon

Jun 27, 2023

Harrison Ford is known for starring in one of the most successful movie franchises of all time. He has created an immensely successful career for himself, pursued his hobbies and passions to the fullest extent and started a beautiful family along the way. While he is very well known in the land of Hollywood, Harrison has managed to keep his personal life, especially the lives of his children, pretty under wraps.

Harrison was born July 13, 1942, in Chicago, Illinois. He lived humbly and graduated from Maine East High School in Park Ridge, Illinois, in 1960. He began pursuing his love for the entertainment industry during this time, working with the school’s radio station WMTH. 

He went on to pursue a degree in philosophy at Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin. Harrison was known for being shy, so he looked for activities to help push him out of his comfort zone. He took a risk and engaged in his first drama class in the last semester of his senior year. This is what led to Harrison’s fascination with acting. He decided to travel to Los Angeles, California, to try to get a radio voiceover job. He wasn’t successful but stayed in the state in hopes of pursuing a career in the entertainment industry.

From waiting on the sidelines to becoming one of the most prolific and decorated actors in the history of cinema, Ford has achieved a lot of acclaim and commercial success because of his talent. At 80 years old, the actor seems to be on a roll and has no plans of stopping. Because of his age, Ford has been asked multiple times about his thoughts on retiring. Keep on reading to know more about what he thought of the seemingly daunting end to his successful career.  

With films grossing more than $5.4 billion in the United States and over $9.3 billion worldwide, Ford is one of the highest-grossing actors in the world and in the country. His bustling filmography, successful career and critically acclaimed talent have catapulted him into becoming a celebrity other celebrities fawn over. 

Among the biggest films that Ford starred in were “Air Force One” in 1997, “Sabrina” in 1995, “Regarding Henry” in 1991, “What Lies Beneath” with Michelle Pfeiffer, “The Mosquito Coast” in 1986, “Working Girl” with Sigourney Weaver, Melanie Griffith and Joan Cusack, and “Blade Runner,” among many others. 

Aside from those, he also starred in two mega-blockbuster film franchises – “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones.”

For years, Ford played the iconic Han Solo in five movies of the “Star Wars” franchise – “Star Wars,” “The Empire Strikes Back,” “Return of the Jedi,” ”The Force Awakens,”  and “The Rise of Skywalker.”

Being Han Solo wasn’t enough for Ford. In fact, after playing a character from outer space, he ventured deep into the jungle as he became Indy in the “Indiana Jones” franchise. He played the titular character in various films like “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “The Temple of Doom,” “The Last Crusade” and “The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” In 2023, he played the titular character again in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” where Ford was notably aged down to establish continuity. 

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly to defend the de-aging technology used in the film, he had this to say: “I'm very happy with it, but I don't look back and say, 'I wish I was that guy again,' because I don't. I'm real happy with age. I love being older. It was great to be young, but s***fire I could be dead, and I'm still working."

At 80, Ford’s secret to vitality is his wife, Calista Flockhart, and his five children – Benjamin, Willard, Malcolm, Georgia and Liam. He had Benjamin and Willard from his first marriage with Mary Marquardt; Malcolm and Georgia with Melissa Mathison; and he adopted Flockhart’s son Liam shortly after their marriage. 

In an interview with CNN and Max’s “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?,” Wallace asked what other people have been quite skeptical to ask Ford about – his plans for retirement. Immediately when Ford was asked about that – he temporarily froze, looked Wallace straight dead in the eye and scoffed at the idea.

“I don’t. I don’t do well when I don’t have work. I love to work. I love to feel useful. It’s my jones. I want to be helpful,” he said after cheekily sneaking a laugh at the start. 

When he was asked about what keeps him interested and in love with acting, Ford continued to explain his thoughts. 

“It is the people you get to work with,” he elaborated. “The intensity and the intimacy of collaboration. It’s the combined ambition somehow forged from words on a page. I don’t plan what I want to do in a scene. I don’t feel obliged to do anything. I’m naturally affected by things that I work on.”

Given his most recent and very definitive answer, it is expected that the “Dial of Destiny” wouldn’t be the last movie we see Ford in. In fact, he was cast in an upcoming Marvel film, “Captain America: Brave New World,” where he will play a fictional version of a President of the United States – Thaddeus E. "Thunderbolt" Ross. The film will be released in June 2024.

Are you a Harrison Ford fan? What is your favorite movie of his? Do you think he should retire already? Why or why not? Let us know, and pass this on to your family, friends and other loved ones out there!