Harrison Ford is known to many fans from Star Wars and the Indiana Jones films. He turned down the lead role for a 2005 thriller. And has regretted it ever since.
Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Blade Runner: Harrison Ford’s roles have made Hollywood history. However, the star didn’t always have a good hand with his choices, as our sister site Espinof has researched. His rejection for the thriller Syriana bothered him for a long time. And role replacement George Clooney, meanwhile, was able to laugh his head off.
Harrison Ford turned down the chance to play an Oscar role
Syriana is a thriller-drama by Stephen Gaghan (The Fantastic Journey of Dr. Doolittle), which also stars Matt Damon and Christopher Plummer alongside Clooney. The film revolves around US oil companies who, together with the CIA, want to influence the politics of an Arab country by force. Clooney plays the role of agent Bob Barnes.
According to the Irish Examiner Ford regrets not accepting the role:
‘I saw part of Syriana recently and I wish I had accepted the role offer. It would have been George’s part. […] At the time I didn’t think the material was authentic enough, but I made a mistake. […] Everything that bothered me was changed after I turned it down.
Watch the trailer for Syriana here:
Ford’s rejection may be particularly annoying because it meant he missed out on an Oscar: his replacement George Clooney won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor at the 2006 Academy Awards for his role in Syriana. Of course, this is not to say that Ford would have fared the same. But in the end, a what-if can be more painful than any facts.
