Harrison Ford on ‘death of the movie star’ idea

Harrison Ford is reflecting about what it means to be an actor.
In an interview with GQ published Monday, the actor, who is known for his iconic roles in “Indiana Jones,” “Star Wars” and more, said that being an actor is being a storyteller.
“I tell stories,” he said. “I’m part of a group of people who work together, collaborate on telling stories. I’m an assistant storyteller. That’s what I am.”
When asked about what he thinks about the recent conversations around the “death of the movie star,” which some say the idea of movie stars has changed in part because of the age of streaming and franchise films, Ford called it “rubbish.”
“I don’t think the question is whether or not there are any movie stars,” he said. “There’s wonderful actors coming up everyday.”
“Whether or not they become movie stars is really not the point,” he added. “If movies need stars, they will find them. I’ve never f—ing understood being a movie star. I’m an actor.”
Ford, who is returning as Paul, a cranky therapist in the Apple TV+ series “Shrinking” alongside Jason Segel, said that these days, what attracts him to certain projects depends on the writing and story.
“It’s the quality of the writing,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what the genre is. It doesn’t matter whether it’s on television or in movies. It’s the writing, it’s the story, it’s the character, it’s the emotional experience for an audience or for myself. It’s people that I have some feeling that I want to work with, or it’s a quality opportunity.”
With that in mind, one of the reasons why he wanted to sign up for “Shrinking” was because of the writing, which Ford said was “done with grace and charm.”
“I thought it was successful when I read the script that was given to me by Brett Goldstein,” he said. “And it was something that I immediately was attracted to because of its success in both the areas of drama and comedy. It was an unusual character for me to play, I thought.”
According to a synopsis for the show, it “follows a grieving therapist (Segel) who starts to break the rules and tell his clients exactly what he thinks.”
“Ignoring his training and ethics, he finds himself making huge, tumultuous changes to people’s lives … including his own,” the synopsis continues.
The series also stars Christa Miller, Jessica Williams, Luke Tennie, Michael Urie, Lukita MAxwell and Ted McGinley.
“Shrinking” season two will arrive with the first two episodes on Wed., Oct. 16, on Apple TV+, followed by one new episode weekly every Wednesday.