From Han Solo to Indiana Jones, Harrison Ford can be relied upon to be wryly grumpy or - a push this - grumpily wry. Engaging cop flick "Hollywood Homicide" sees him buddy up with Josh Hartnett - on-screen, at least...
Why did you think this film would be a good vehicle for you?
I thought it was a unique opportunity to deal with normal police life and bring into it the reality that most of these guys have second jobs. It's the overlap between the primary job and secondary job that's the source of the comedy. I just thought the idea was funny. I think Ron Shelton is a good director and I wanted to work with him. I was teamed up with Josh Hartnett and I thought that might be good chemistry.
Was it? Josh has said you gave him a hard time on set...
Well, I certainly had fun. I thought I was being very nice to him and I mean, if I had had any intention not to be nice to him, it would have been very different. I mean, I thought I was being nice to him.
So did you enjoy working with him then?
I think it came out very well. I think he's the perfect balance to the character I play.
But he did crash a car with you in it, right?
Yes, he did and he wasn't even sorry! Well, I guess he was a little sorry. It was an accident. We were doing a driving shot where we had the cameras mounted on the trunk and we were supposed to be cut off by a police car at the end of the alley. We were driving through and somehow, somehow, we hit the police car!
But do you normally try to do your own stunts?
I don't do stunts! I do running, jumping, falling down, rolling around on the floor but I don't do stunts. Stuntmen do stunts.
Tell us about your character...
His life is crumbling around him. There's an internal affairs investigation going on. He's got terrible money troubles. He's a real estate speculator and broker on the side. There's a murder investigation and we're trying to track down the killers of four rappers. As his two careers begin to overlap, a lot of the comic opportunity arises.
So did you hang out with the real homicide detectives at all as preparation?
I spent a little time with the Hollywood homicide division of LAPD to just try and get the style of the department. It's a very professional police department and very anxious to be seen in that way.
