Even Chris Pratt Doesn’t Wanna Play Indiana Jones

With how much Hollywood loves casting hot, young actors to inhabit the roles previously held by veterans, it seems inevitable that we will get ourselves a new Indiana Jones. After all, Harrison Ford turned 80 earlier this week, and the upcoming Indiana Jones 5 is very likely going to be the last time he dons that hat and bullwhip. (Even if it’s not, composer John Williams is saying this film may be his last cinematic hurrah.) Whoever does step in for Indy after Ford will have some big shoes to fill, but at the very least, we can all take comfort in the fact that it won’t be Chris Pratt.

The idea of Pratt stepping in to play Jones has been floated around over the years, but the actor very much gave a hard no on that front recently. In this week’s episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Pratt revealed his intentions to never in his life take that role, thanks to Ford scaring him out of it. “I once saw a quote from Harrison Ford,” recalled Pratt, “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…?”

The quote in question stems from 2019 during an interview on the Today Show. When asked by Today’s Craig Melvin about who he’d want to take over the role, Ford grabbed Melvin’s shoulder and leaned in to say: “Nobody. Don’t you get it? I’m Indiana Jones. When I’m gone, he’s gone. It’s easy.”

Sounds incredibly ominous, and honestly, I think I love the idea of an actor being haunted by the ghost of another actor. (Depending on who you are, being haunted by the ghost of Harrison Ford isn’t the worst thing in the world.) Pratt’s taking it to heart and staying as far away from Jones as possible, so you can’t say it wasn’t effective. Wonder if Ford is as protective over the video game version of Indy as he is the film version.

[via IGN]

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