Chris Pratt will never play Indiana Jones after Harrison Ford “scared” him off
Universal Pictures/LucasfilmChris Pratt may be a Guardian of the Galaxy, but he won’t be a Raider of the Lost Ark – he’s vowed to never take over as Indiana Jones after Harrison Ford “scared” him off.
Pratt was once the go-to comic relief, whether he was getting his face pelted by a keyboard in Wanted or… whatever his role was in Delivery Man, a deep-cut from Vince Vaughn’s filmography.
While the tide started turning with Moneyball and Zero Dark Thirty, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy completely altered his trajectory and made him a worldwide action star.
Since 2014, he’s essentially led the Jurassic World franchise, appeared in two of the biggest movies of all time with Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, and will soon voice Super Mario and Garfield on the big screen. However, there’s one role he’ll never take on: Indiana Jones.
Chris Pratt says Harrison Ford “scared” him from playing Indiana Jones
Back in January 2021, amid Indiana Jones 5’s development hell woes, a rumor surfaced that Lucasfilm was considering Pratt as the next star to equip the whip and don the fedora.
As we know now, Indiana Jones 5 has picked up since then, and Ford will return to the role once more next summer, starring alongside Mads Mikkelsen, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Antonio Banderas.
Appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Pratt shut down the rumor, joking: “I don’t even know who Steven Spielberg is. Who? Steven Who?”
He continued: “No, aren’t they doing Indiana Jones with Harrison Ford? All I know is I once saw a quote from Harrison Ford and I don’t even know if it was really him but it was enough to scare me, that was like, ‘When I die, Indiana Jones dies.’
“And I’m like, am I gonna get haunted by the ghost of Harrison Ford one day when he dies if I play?”
Back in 2019, Ford appeared on the Today show, where he was asked about the possibility of another actor taking over as Indy. “Don’t you get it? I’m Indiana Jones. When I’m gone, he’s gone. It’s easy,” he said.
Indiana Jones 5, directed by James Mangold, will hit cinemas on June 30, 2023.