Harrison Ford Dishes on His Difficult Early Acting Years: "What Worked Was Simply Not Giving Up"

Famous Hollywood actor discusses beginning of his career

By Samantha Schnurr Dec 17, 2015 7:11 PMTags
Watch: E! Looks Back at Harrison Ford in 1992

While millennials were barely a glimmer in their parent's eyes in 1992, Harrison Ford was already a bonafide movie star. 

At 40 years old, the acclaimed Hollywood hunk had already won audiences' hearts in a handful of blockbuster roles, including Jack Trainer in Working Girl, the adventurous Indiana Jones, and—of course—as Han Solo in the beloved Star Wars franchise. 

When he sat down with E! News 23 years ago, despite decades of overwhelming fame, he couldn't shake the memory of his early years as a struggling onscreen hopeful. 

"If I had known how hard it was when I set out to be an actor, I might have been deterred, but when I committed to that as something that I wanted, I began to understand that really part of what worked was simply not giving up," he shared with E! News.

"There was a certain process of attrition and a lot of the people that were in the group that came in at about the time that I came in...gave up along the way."

Lucasfilm Ltd

He certainly didn't throw in the towel. While it's almost impossible to forget Ford's name today, he spent over a decade in the business before he landed the pivotal role of Han Solo—the character that arguably made him a cinematic legend.

Now, 30 years after his last appearance as the famous character, he is again hitting the big screen to reprise the role at 73 years old.  

"I never gave up and I thought that that had a certain importance in finally prevailing," he declared. "It's not chances I like to take. I like to accept and meet challenges."

The acting force was definitely with him. 

Watch: Why Harrison Ford Thinks "Star Wars" Is So Successful