Harrison Ford, despite nearing 80 years old, is not afraid to get his hands dirty and perform stunts an actor of his age or fame would not even think of doing. That has come at some price recently, however.
Ford injured his shoulder while “rehearsing for a fight scene” for the fifth Indiana Jones film, according to a Disney statement in late June. Disney said that in spite of the injury, production for the film would continue with an altered filming schedule if it is deemed necessary.
While walking around London on July 2, Ford was spotted wearing a sling on his right arm, possibly indicating the injury may indeed change some plans in terms of filming. An injury likely won’t stop Ford from trying to go above and beyond in Indiana Jones.
Harrison Ford Steps Out in Arm Sling After Sustaining Injury While Making Indiana Jones 5 https://t.co/5gFgT8K89j
— People (@people) July 3, 2021
Steven Spielberg, who directed the first four Indiana Jones films and will serve as producer in the fifth movie, said he was an “idiot” for letting Ford perform his own stunts in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), including the famous scene in which a 300-pound boulder chased Ford down a narrow corridor.
“There were five shots of the rock from five different angles — each one done separately, each one done twice — so Harrison had to race the rock 10 times. He won 10 times — and beat the odds,” Spielberg wrote in an essay for American Cinematographer. “He was lucky — and I was an idiot for letting him try it.”
While Ford escaped unscathed in the boulder stunt, he suffered several injuries in the first Indiana Jones film. Outside of filming, he also sustained multiple injuries, including a broken pelvis, when he crash-landed his airplane in 2015.
With shooting having just begun in June, it’s unknown if Ford’s injury will delay the unnamed Indiana Jones movie, which is set to release on July 29, 2022.