Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Aging Actor

I'm a huge fan of the Indiana Jones film series. Recently, my buddy forwarded a link to an article he thought I might find interesting regarding a potential fifth film. Seems Harrison Ford is ready to don the Indiana Jones outfit one more time and I couldn't be happier about it. Mr. Ford spoke recently with French newspaper Le Figaro stating that he, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas have all agreed on what the film should be about. Harrison went further saying that George Lucas was actively working on the story and that he himself had no problem putting on the costume again as long as the script was good.

Unfortunately, these days whenever we hear talk of a new Indiana Jones film, the subject of Harrison’s age always comes up. There are a number of people out there who seem to think he’s too old. Eh? What’s that? I don’t understand. At what age do they believe a person is “too old” to play a particular character?

Personally, I happen to think it'd be great to see another Indy adventure and I'm one of the last people to think Harrison is "too old" to play the part. That's ridiculous. Unless the character in the story is immortal like the character of Conner MacLeod in the Russell Mulcahy film Highlander how can one be too old to play them? I can imagine the character of Indiana Jones continuing to do what he obviously loves to do for as long as he can. It’s an unfortunate shame that some people would rather see the much beloved character fade into the past than see an aging actor get out there and do it one more time. But we must ask ourselves, why does this subject come up in the first place in this day and age? Shouldn't we have 'grown up' and moved past stuff like that by now?

Hollywood is no doubt partially to blame for this type of thinking. For years now, they’ve made films (and television series for that matter) that tend to imply that only strong, young, thin, attractive people go on such adventures. That somehow only good looking, fit and trim individuals in their 20s become doctors, firemen, law enforcement officers, private investigators, spies, or archaeologists. That’s not only unrealistic, but it also has the potential to cause a mild form of bigotry to brew in the minds of many. She’s too fat. He’s not tall enough. She’s too plain. He’s too old. That’s entirely opinionated. You’re as young as you feel. There are other culprits when it comes to these false notions some of us have come to believe, but perhaps that’s another subject for a future hub.

Harrison Ford says he’s up for playing Indy again. He stays in shape, so he's definitely 'ready' for the action and performing the obligatory stunt work. In fact, he's in better shape now than most actors 20 years younger than him. I had assumed that seeing him perform a lot of his own stunts in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull would have silenced most of those that are opposed to the idea. Based on what I’ve read recently in various comments and forums across the internet, it would seem I was wrong. Hopefully, we can one day move beyond this sort of superficial, silly way of thinking and just sit back with our popcorn & soda (don't forget the Goobers and Raisinets) and enjoy movies no matter how old the star is. Until the franchise wears out it's welcome, something I just can't see happening, or Harrison just decides he can't do them anymore I hope we have many more years and a couple more Indy flicks to enjoy.

Now if only Mad Max writer/director George Miller could convince Mel Gibson, who is about 10 years younger than Harrison Ford, that he's not too old to play the part of Max in a new film instead of recasting the role I'd be happy.