One of the more talked-about moments of the making of Star Wars: The Force Awakens was the on-set injury suffered by Harrison Ford. Despite the incident sustained via a closing door onboard the Millennium Falcon set delaying filming for two months, Han Solo proved as durable and sturdy a specimen as the actor portraying him. However, Ford was soon back in action, with the film still on course for its long-awaited December 2015 theatrical release.
Obviously, Ford’s iconic character from the original trilogy is a major draw for the nostalgia-fueled property going forward, with a reported upwards of 2,500 actors auditioning for the part in the upcoming stand-alone film based on the character. Fortunately for Abrams, Solo himself is fond of the new film, though the actor’s latest appearance on late night television offers a different take on his working relationship with the director.
Appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon recently, Ford regaled Fallon of his ordeal sustained on the set, with plenty of joking asides to Abrams’ suggested instigation of the unfortunate event. Using a classic model Han Solo doll to reenact the scenario, the actor explained how he sustained his fateful injury, before devolving into a fit of laughter at the prompting of notorious huckster of late night television.
It’s hard to make out anymore about the incident in question from the clip featured above, though it’s nice to know that Ford not only weathered his injuries in good health, but with humor as well. Ford is notoriously hard to read at times, due to his somewhat grizzled demeanor during public appearances, but his heart is obviously in the right place in the promotion of the new film, which is a blessing for Abrams and company.
Even if he can still be a little prickly around the edges in regards to directly answering questions related to the Han Solo character, Ford looks like he may have actually been having fun with Fallon, and all the while referring to the aforementioned point of mild personal contention. If fans are lucky, maybe some of that ease and camaraderie will have rubbed off on his performance in the new film, thereby offering a return to the character and franchise that can finally feel like a true homecoming.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens will see theatrical release on December 18th, 2015, followed by Rogue One: A Star Wars Story on December 16th, 2016, Star Wars: Episode VIII on May 26th, 2017, and the Han Solo Star Wars Anthology film on May 25th, 2018; Star Wars: Episode IX is expected to reach theaters in 2019, with the third Star Wars Anthology film in coming in 2020.
Source: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
