Harrison on the world of Blade Runner
Harrison Ford, who turned Blade Runner’s Rick Deckard into one of his most indelible onscreen portraits, reprises the role in Columbia Pictures’ futuristic action-thriller Blade Runner 2049.
The highly-awaited follow-up to Ridley Scott’s ’80s original classic, Blade Runner 2049 is directed by Academy Awardnominee Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Sicario, Arrival).
Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K (Ryan Gosling), unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what’s left of society into chaos. K’s discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison), a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years.
What were your feelings about the original impact of the Blade Runner movie?
“It was shockingly new, bold. I thought it was a significant piece of work. I was not altogether sure about how an audience would react. I’d been to a couple of test screenings and seen the film with test audiences.” Talk about the film’s mass appeal and how it keeps getting new fans.
“I think it proposed a level of technology that we didn’t know… would come to fruition, or that it would come as quickly.
It certainly was a dystopian view of our future. And we’ve seen that happen as well; so, it was prescient in many ways. And I think as the technology developed and people began to see some of the issues that the film talked about play out in real life, there was more reason to accept the themes that the film dealt with.” Has your opinion changed over the years as well of the film?
“I think it’s a very significant piece of filmmaking. You know, I think Ridley Scott has amazing talent. And I always thought that. But I wrestled with several story points famously. And I’m happy, I’ve come to the conclusion that… not answering the question about Deckard’s origin or manufacture or previous history is perhaps more interesting. Do you have any fond memories from the film? “None whatsoever, no, no, no. It was hard. That’s not fair. Ask me again.” What are some of your fondest memories from making Blade Runner?
“Going home in the morning as the sun rose. Fifty nights of rain on the back lot of Warner Bros. Studios. It was tough, it was a tough shoot. The hours were long. You know, the lighting was complicated and difficult, there was a lot of waiting. There were a lot of complicated, physical issues with the film that… problems had to be overcome on the day, or on the night.” Do you have any apprehensions about playing this role again?
“No, I didn’t. I mean, I certainly have apprehensions about every film that I do. Every film is different and each has a degree of difficulty. And you hope for the best, that relationships will work, that the people you’re working with will find value in what you’re doing and you’ll be able to help them achieve their ambitions.”
When you first read the script from the new film, what were your initial thoughts? What stood out to you about the writing? “I thought that it contained a really good part for Ryan Gosling. I was really very enthusiastic about proposing to the producers, and to the then presumed director, that the part be played by Ryan Gosling. And they said ‘Oh yeah, we know. That’s what we were thinking, too.’ So I was very happy about that.
“I enjoyed very much working with Ryan in the film, I think he’s a terrific performer and very thoughtful and brings a real credit to our combined ambition.” What’s the world of Blade Runner 2049 like? What type of world exists now?
“(Laughs) Well, it’s slightly less, it’s slightly worse than 50 nights on the back lot of Warner Bros. Things have not gotten that much better in terms of the ecology of planet Earth. And life here has continued, life on Earth has continued to be challenging because of the environmental issues that the planet faces. And the social issues as well. So it remains a grim… but very interesting portrait of a possible future.”
When someone asks you what this movie is about, in a couple of sentences, how do you describe the story? “It’s about me, it’s all about me!
(Laughs) It’s about… how do you describe it in a couple of sentences? I’m not any fan of naming things. I like people to come to it, to see a film without too much information. Without… a particular ambition for what they’re going to see. I want people to be able to experience a film. And feel their way through it. I think that’s emotionally the best… state of mind to come to a film in, is without a lot of knowledge.”
What’s your character been doing for the last 30 years since the last film and how do we first meet him in this film?
“I have a set of thoughts about where he’s been, what he’s been doing. I didn’t find them enormously useful, except that I wanted there to be no impediment to a logical… assumption of what he’s been doing.
“In other words, I didn’t want to propose what he might have been doing, but I didn’t want there to be, in the film, any contradiction of what might have been possible for him. Deckard has been in hiding and has gone through tragic events since the last film. And, after that, he was even more valuable to be found.
“But also he was charged with the protection of the secrets that he had. He felt morally obligated to protect those secrets. And so he made himself absent. He went to a place that one would not expect you to go. A dangerous place. And I think he’s been living a… very lonely singular life.” How do we meet him for the first time in Blade Runner 2049?
“He’s tracked down by the character that Ryan plays, and found. He is one of the key elements of a mystery that
Ryan’s character is charged with solving.”
Talk about getting back into the world of Blade Runner. They remade the gun you had from the original film. What were some of those experiences like for you?
“I think it’s kind of fun to play a character 30 years later, so I didn’t see a real problem with it at all. Recently, before that I had revisited Han Solo after about a 30-year absence from the part. In a way, I’m used to trying on old clothes, happily they still fit, so it wasn’t a struggle. It was fun.”
Talk about Roger Deakins’ expertise and what he brings to a show like this.
“Enormous experience, great tastes… great technical understanding in capacity and joy in the process of moviemaking after all these
Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard: I think it’s kind of fun to play a character 30 years later, so I didn’t see a real problem with it at all. Recently, before that I had revisited Han Solo after about a 30-year absence from the part. In a way, I’m used to trying on old clothes, happily they still fit, so it wasn’t a struggle. It was fun.
films and all these years. And… it was an enormous pleasure to work with him. I was fascinated by the lighting design that he continuously came up with. It was stunning, he has created some very stunning visual environments.” Talk about the biggest challenge for you to get through this movie?
“There was no challenge at all. I was very happy working on the film. It was well planned, it was well executed and everyone that I worked with was a pleasure to be with.”
What was it like getting to come back with Ridley again? He visited a couple of times.
“Yeah, it was fun. He’s a brilliant mind. He’s very quick. Intellectually, it’s fun talking to him about the project. He was very generous in terms of turning over his baby to others. It was great to see him again. He’s fun to go to dinner with. And I enjoy his company.” Is there any technology from Blade Runner 2049 that you wish you could have today? Anything that would help improve your life?
“No, I know you’re going to ask me about flying cars or something, and I… I don’t really have an answer for that.”
What do you see as the next chapter for this film as we get closer to its release? What are your hopes for the film?
“I’m hoping desperately that Ryan Gosling will continue to attract an audience for us. That he’ll stay out of jail, out of trouble and that we can take advantage of his enormous current success (laughs).” (Opening in Philippine cinemas and IMAX tomorrow, Oct. 6, Blade Runner 2049 is distributed in the Philippines by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.)