Harrison Ford admits joining Marvel required ‘not caring’ and being ‘an idiot for money’
Harrison Ford is making his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with his role as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross in next year’s “Captain America: Brave New World.”
At San Diego Comic-Con, Ford, 82, discussed his preparation for and experience of joining the MCU, in which he plays a US president who transforms into the Red Hulk.
The actor specifically addressed the challenges of motion capture technology, which Hulk movies rely on to show an actor turning into the superhero.
“What did it take? It took not caring,” the actor told Variety. “It took being an idiot for money, which I’ve done before.”
He clarified that he didn’t “mean to disparage” the film, which he “had a great time” making.
“I’m just saying you have to do certain things that normally your mother would not want you to do — or your acting coach, if you had one,” “The Devil’s Own” star said. “But it’s fun, and I enjoyed it.”
Ford said he was “delighted at the response” to the trailer, which debuted at the annual convention.
His portrayal of Ross follows that of the late William Hurt, who played the character in five MCU films from 2008 to 2021. Ford was cast in the role after Hurt’s passing in 2022 due to prostate cancer at age 71.
Ford’s “Captain America 4” co-star Anthony Mackie, who plays Captain America/Sam Wilson, praised Ford in a June 2023 interview with Inverse, noting that the veteran actor carries “this aura about him.”
“He’s Harrison f—ing Ford,” Mackie exclaimed, revealing that Ford “dispels that [aura] really quickly because he’s such a cool guy” and “everything a movie star should be.”
“He would say, ‘Let’s shoot this piece of s—t.’ And everybody was like, ‘Yeah, let’s shoot this s—t,'” the “Falcon and the Winter Soldier” actor continued.
In a conversation with ScreenRant at Comic-Con, Ford also compared his MCU gig to his work for his most famous roles in the “Indiana Jones” and “Star Wars” films.
“It’s a whole different cut of cloth, isn’t it? Free of some normal constraints to the imagination. It’s delightful to deal with and it’s fun,” he said, appreciating the creative freedom it offers.
The “Shrinking” star also praised his co-stars on “Captain America 4.”
“The people I worked with were fantastic,” he went on, noting that the film’s director, Julius Onah, “did a terrific job” and Mackie “is great fun to work with.”
He added: “We had a good time. I enjoyed it.”
“Captain America: Brave New World” is slated to his theaters Feb. 12, 2025.
