6 Reasons Harrison Ford Should Get An Oscar Nod For Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Harrison Ford - actor, pilot, notorious grumpus - has never won an Oscar. Allow that to sink in for a moment, as you think back to the many less deserving peope that have taken a prize before he's even come close (Cuba Gooding Jr, anyone?). Ford has been nominated before - once, for Best Actor for Witness - but has won absolute bupkis from the Academy Awards in all his years as a movie star. There were no nominations for Indiana Jones or The Fugitive, nor for his less blockbustery, more dramatic turns, in The Mosquito Coast or Presumed Innocent. And not ever for playing Han Solo. Well, now is the Academy's chance: Star Wars: The Force Awakens is out and has just made it in for Oscar eligibility, right at the tail-end of the year, while Ford is happily drawing praise for his fourth run at the bat as Solo. Does Ford deserve the win? Perhaps not - Mark Rylance looks likely to be the one to take home the prize for his stunning turn in Bridge of Spies - but he's at the least a worthwhile candidate for the nomination. So, without further ado, are six reasons why Harrison Ford should be part of the Best Supporting Actor conversation for playing Han Solo. Of course, spoilers for The Force Awakens will follow. 6) Ford May Be The Standout Actor In The Force Awakens Episode VII boasts hands down the greatest cast list of any Star Wars movie, ever. Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Lupita Nyong'o, Domhnall Gleeson, Andy Serkis, Max von Sydow, not to mention Daniel Craig, Iko Uwais and Simon Pegg in blink-and-you'll-miss-'em roles (keep your eyes and ears open for those). All that impressive talent, each of them individually outstanding, all have the show stolen from underneath them by one mumbling veteran, at 73-years-old and as effortlessly cool as he ever was. We shouldn't really have expected otherwise: Harrison Ford is still Harrison Ford, one of the most effortlessly charismatic and watchable performers working in the business. All the talk of Chris Pratt (or anyone else for that matter) taking Ford's mantle is bunk - not even the sparky, charming Pratt can compare to an on-form Ford. He's Episode VII's surprise MVP, when none of us should really have been surprised at all. 5) He's Great As Ever As Han Solo Perhaps it's because Ford always made playing Han Solo look easy - maybe that's why he never made an impact during awards season as the character. It isn't a role that's exactly flashy, nor does Han Solo exactly stretch Ford or require him to bare his soul. With that said, magicking up a character like Han Solo out of thin air still takes enormous skill - far more than critics often give Ford credit for - and that skill is still very much on display in The Force Awakens. Imagine Han Solo played by anybody else. Would he be quite as cool, in his own sort of uncool way? Would anyone else have the skill to nail the mix of arrogance and insecurity (watch him competing with Luke for Leia's affection in the first two movies like a jealous schoolboy), brash heroism and cowardice, callousness and affection? The truth is that Harrison Ford made Han Solo more complex than critics like to acknowledge. There's no one else who could have played this part like Ford does. 4) Ford Brings Depth To Han Like Never Before As towering as the Solo character is, nobody can claim Ford ever brought what would typically be called 'gravitas' to the part. Han Solo was always too cool to care, with too much reputation at stake to show his hand and admit he was ever conflicted, scared or in love. Not when he was hunted by mercenaries, running for his life, not even when he was about to be put in carbonite and snatched away from the woman he adored. In The Force Awakens, things are different. The universe has moved on and Han is old and filled with regret, over how things went south with his son; over the absence of Leia and Luke from his life. There's a baggage that Ford brings to the part in Episode VII. There are new, unexpected layers - and yet it's subtle, Ford refusing to overplay it. He's affecting like he's never been as Solo before. Anyone who claims they didn't get goosebumps during the "It's real - all of it" monologue or didn't feel the ache when Han yelled after his estranged son is lying. 3) An Oscar Nom Would Be Recognition Of Ford Creating One Of Cinema's Iconic Figures To get yourself in the Oscar race, it's generally assumed you have to cry and/or yell the way to a nomination, regardless of whether the character the actor is playing has any lasting appeal. Performances that are described as 'powerhouse' or 'raw' are the kind that tend to get actors on the ballot; these aren't terms that apply to Harrison Ford as Han Solo. One word that does apply, however, is 'iconic.' The Best Supporting Actor category has over the last decade or so become a way not just to recognize the passionate and the overblown supporting roles, but the unique and unforgettable as well. Think Heath Ledger's Joker, Javier Bardem's Anton Chigurh, Christoph Waltz's Hans Landa. These are iconic performances, the likes of which audiences had never seen before. So why not at long last acknowledge that Han Solo ranks alongside such characters? If we don't reward actors for creating great, memorable characters, then what exactly is the Oscar for? 2) The Academy Might Not Get Many More Chances This one is twofold. Firstly, considering Han Solo dies at the end of The Force Awakens, there's probably not going to be another opportunity for the Academy to recognize the character, and certainly not Harrison Ford in the part. Secondly, we need to acknowledge that Ford - at 73 - might not have another real chance to be nominated again, leaving the Academy running out of time to reward Ford for all his great work. Outside of his major franchises, Ford's roles have been getting less attention lately, as he moves into indies like The Age of Adaline and 42, films that just don't have the weight (or the money) behind them to reap awards success. Ford has admittedly only limited screen-time in The Force Awakens, but actors have been nominated and even won for much less than Ford gives and gets in Episode VII. It could be his last big role for a while - maybe ever, considering he has been winding down of late - and potentially his last ever to have awards buzz. 1) It'd Be Long Overdue Recognition For One Of Hollywood's Greatest Ever Stars The Best Supporting Actor award hasn't just been used in its time to recognize the powerhouses and those actors who've created great, iconic figures. It's been there for actors like Christopher Plummer and Martin Landau, as a kind of lifetime achievement award. Plummer got his for Beginners, Landau for Ed Wood, with each of them in roles that would hardly be considered definitive parts in their long careers. They won because of the careers that had come before more than anything else. Ford has more than most had one hell of a career, appearing in classics such as American Graffiti, Apocalypse Now, the Star Wars movies, the Indiana Jones saga, Blade Runner, Witness, The Fugitive, and creating iconic characters like Han Solo, Indiana Jones and Rick Deckard in his own imitable way. He's inarguably been one of the great movie stars. The Academy has given Best Supporting Actor noms away to lesser actors as recognition for great careers. Could this season see Harrison Ford finally getting his due? Time will tell.