Harrison Ford Has Tom Selleck To Thank For His Role In ‘Indiana Jones’

Harrison Ford expressed his gratitude to Tom Selleck at the Taormina Film Festival on Sunday for paving the way for his career-defining role in Indiana Jones over four decades ago. “Thank you, Tom, man. If you’re listening, thank you again,” Ford said to Tom at the event.

Tom was initially cast to play the lead in 1981’s Indiana Jones: Raiders Of The Lost Ark, however, he was forced to drop the role due to another gig. Steven Spielberg then cast Ford to replace Tom as “Jones” in the movie.

Why did Tom drop his ‘Indiana Jones’ role?

Tom left Indiana Jones because he had committed to a contract with another television series, Magnum P.I. “Tom Selleck had the job, but he also incurred an obligation to do a television series, and he was unable to get out of that contract. I became the second choice,” Ford said at the film festival in Italy.

RELATED: Harrison Ford Tears Up As Fans Thank Him For ‘Indiana Jones’ Franchise

Indiana Jones’ franchise creator, George Lucas, who had worked with Ford on Star Wars, admitted to being reluctant about replacing Tom with Ford at the time. “I doubted he’d go for a three-picture deal – he didn’t want to on ‘Star Wars’  and we had three pictures,” Lucas told Empire magazine. “Steven said to try anyway. I went to Harrison and he read the script and said, ‘Yeah, I’ll do a three-picture deal. I’d love to.’”

Lucas took a chance on Ford

Steven encouraged Lucas to go ahead with Ford, and he obliged. “He said ‘I want you to read it right away, I want you to read it in an hour.’ I sat down, I read it an an hour, and he said ‘I want you to go over to Steven Spielberg’s house and talk to him,’” Ford recalled.

Ford was asked how he figured out the main character, Jones, from the script, to which he responded, “Pretty hot out for a leather jacket, and a heavy felt hat, and he was an archeologist and he was a professor, and what more would you need to know as an actor? This is a guy who carries a whip. You know what that means.”

Ford has since then played the lead across the five Indiana Jones films, with the much-anticipated finale Dial Of Destiny, being his last appearance in the franchise.