“Brad developed the script. Then they offered me the part. I saved my comments about the character and the construction of the thing,” the 80-year-old star explained.
“First of all, I admire Brad. I think he’s a wonderful actor. He’s a really decent guy. But we couldn’t agree on a director until we came to Alan Pakula, who I had worked with before but Brad had not,” Harrison said, referencing his role in Pakula’s 1990 mystery film “Presumed Innocent.”
In “The Devil’s Own,” a New York police officer (Ford) uncovers the real identity of his house guest, a deadly IRA assassin (Pitt), who pulls them into the crossfire of terrorism in an attempt to purchase a cargo of missiles. The two opposing characters ultimately butt heads as they do what they both think is right.
“Brad had this complicated character, and I wanted a complication on my side so that it wasn’t just a good-and-evil battle,” he continued. “And that’s when I came up with the bad-shooting thing.”
“The bad-shooting thing” is in reference to a scene in the film, in which Ford’s character finds himself morally conflicted after witnessing his partner (Rubén Blades) fatally shoot someone.
Ford’s subplot was eventually woven into the film, but the “Star Wars” alum said trying to work the scene into the movie while they were still shooting was no easy feat.
“I worked with a writer — but then all the sudden we’re shooting and we didn’t have a script that Brad and I agreed on,” Ford said. “Each of us had different ideas about it. I understand why he wanted to stay with his point of view, and I wanted to stay with my point of view — or I was imposing my point of view, and it’s fair to say that that’s what Brad felt.”
He added: “It was complicated. I like the movie very much. Very much.” Back in September, Ford announced he was reprising his beloved role as Indiana Jones in the franchise’s fifth installment, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” The action-adventure film is slated to hit theaters on June 30.
Watch the trailer below.