Harrison Ford’s 10 Best Movie Roles

By Rachel West. 13 Jul 2022 10:08 AM

Born on July 13, 1942, in Chicago, Harrison Ford has built a career on playing wise-cracking tough guys who just might be hiding a sensitive side under their gruff – and handsome – exterior. To celebrate his 80th birthday, here are our picks for 10 of his best movie roles.

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Indiana Jones, ‘Indiana Jones’ Franchise

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Han Solo, ‘Star Wars’ Franchise
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Ford almost didn’t land his most iconic role. Director George Lucas worked with a fresh-faced Ford in “American Graffiti” where he played a cocky teenager in the carpenter-turned-actor’s first major movie role in 1973. Lucas wanted new actors for his space odyssey and merely brought Ford in to read lines with other potential cast members during the audition process. He did so well, he won the part and the rest is movie history.
Dr. Richard Kimble, ‘The Fugitive’
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Ford is the innocent man in the action-thriller in which he is on the run from the law. Here he balances his quick wit and book smarts with a driving desperation to clear his name and track down the infamous one-armed man who murdered his wife.
Henry Turner, ‘Regarding Henry’
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Long before they teamed up on “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, Ford starred in “Regarding Henry”, a drama penned by a young J.J. Abrams. Ford stars as a workaholic Manhattan lawyer with questionable morals who gets shot during a convenience store holdup, resulting in brain damage and amnesia. Now in recovery, Henry becomes a vulnerable man who tries to rebuild his life. Playing both sides of the character gives Ford a chance to show his true range as an actor.
Indiana Jones, ‘Indiana Jones’ Franchise
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Next to Han Solo, Ford’s second-most synonymous role is that of archaeologist-adventurer Indiana Jones in the four-movie anthology. Ford is at his charismatic best when he’s cracking a whip and a joke while out-running a boulder in “Raiders Of The Lost Ark” or sparring with his onscreen pop Sean Connery in “The Last Crusade”.
Jack Trainor, ‘Working Girl’
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Harrison Ford in a romantic comedy? Yes, please. It’s a side of the actor audiences don’t often get to see. Playing a total cad opposite Melanie Griffith in the 1988 film, he flips his gruff persona on its head and gets to exude the boyish charm normally reserved for a galaxy far, far away.
Norman Spencer, ‘What Lies Beneath’
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While it’s not the best Ford movie, “What Lies Beneath” gives us a great performance as the actor plays against type as a devious and philandering husband with buried secrets at the centre of the ghost story. Like Ford, Norman Spencer is used to being seen as the good guy and hero so his deception in the thriller makes his fall from grace all the more entertaining. It’s a treat to see him go dark in the pulpy box office hit.
Rick Deckard, ‘Blade Runner’
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Considered a sci-fi noir masterpiece, 1982’s “Blade Runner” sees Ford as jaded replicant hunter Rick Deckard. Emotionally drained, morally ambiguous Ford’s dramatic and weighty turn symbolizes everything about what it means to be human in a world full of androids. He’d later reprise his cult role in 2017’s “Blade Runner 2049” opposite Ryan Gosling.
John Book, ‘Witness’
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Ford landed his first -- and so far, only -- Academy Award nomination for playing a detective who travels to Amish country in order to protect a young witness (Lukas Haas) to a murder. Cultures collide as Ford’s John Book falls in love with Amish woman Kelly McGillis in the tense drama that’s all about decisions and consequences.
Dr. Richard Walker, ‘Frantic’
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Ford ditches his usual cool tough-guy persona to show a more vulnerable side as a desperate man who wants to recover his wife from kidnappers in Roman Polanski’s “Frantic”. Set in a cold and unfriendly Paris, Ford’s character is an ordinary man in an extraordinary circumstance who makes even the most far-fetched situation involving a terrorist smuggling plot wholly believable – and riveting.
Jack Ryan, ‘Patriot Games’
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As CIA analyst Jack Ryan, Ford is a determined and reluctant action hero who keeps finding himself – and his family – in dangerous situations in both “Patriot Games” and in followup “Clear And Present Danger”. His unwavering drive to do the right thing makes him a driven and relatable protagonist.

Harrison Ford’s 10 Best Movie Roles

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