The actor who was supposed to play Indiana Jones
It’s hard to picture anyone else in Indiana Jones’ boots, but according to the men behind the films, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, Harrison Ford wasn’t their first choice. In fact, Magnum P.I. star Tom Selleck was originally destined for the role, however he was unable to accept the offer due to previous contractual agreements.
“I’d done the pilot for Magnum [P.I.], and they offered me a screen test, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas,” Selleck told David Letterman. “They called me a week later [...] and they offered it to me and I said, ‘Well I’ve done this pilot,’ and they said, ‘Oh we’re not worried.’”
However, even after doing his screen test (which you can watch here), it wasn’t meant to be for Selleck. “The more they held out the offer and talked to the network the more the network said no […] so I had to kind of move on.”
In an interview with Empire magazine, Lucas revealed Ford was essentially their last-resort choice. “We were running short of time and Steven said, ‘There’s always Harrison.’”
“I doubted he’d go for a three-picture deal — he didn’t want to on Star Wars. And we had three pictures. Steven said to try anyway. I went to Harrison and he read the script and said, ‘Yeah, I’ll do a three-picture deal. I’d love to.’”
Tell us in the comments below, could you imagine Tom Selleck as Indiana Jones? Or are you glad they ‘resorted’ to Ford?
Related links:
Film stars’ surprising jobs before they were famous
Harrison Ford set to return for fifth Indiana Jones movie
What we know about the next Indiana Jones film