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From leading the most acclaimedStar Warsrelease,The Empire StrikesBack to starring inRaiders of the Lost ArkandBlade Runner, the ’80s saw Harrison Ford at his peak. Moreover, apart from taking leading roles in major sci-fi and fantasy releases, he also made sure to star in several acclaimed dramas, includingWitness, which earned him an Oscar nod for Best Actor.
But while Ford took on many iconic gigs, especially in the 80s, the actor also chose to turn down a plethora of them, including Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables.
Harrison Ford Rejected the Offer to Headline Brian De Palma’sThe Untouchables
By the timeHarrison Fordwas done with the originalStar Warstrilogy, the actor was one of the most in-demand actors in the world and was reasonably the favorite pick for many directors. Brian De Palma, who too was enjoying major success in the ’80s thanks toScarface, initially eyed Ford for the 1987 crime thrillerThe Untouchables. Opposed to Robert Stack’s tough portrayal of Eliot Ness in the 1959 series, De Palma wanted to make his iteration of the Federal agent more vulnerable.
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Thus, actorsincludingHarrison Ford, Don Johnson, Michael Douglas, etc, were considered for the role, but each of them turned it down. In Ford’s case, it’s not surprising to see why, as at the time, the actor maintained distance from gangster projects, and theMission: Impossibledirector eventually brought in Kevin Costner for the part.
Interestingly, Robert De Niro wasn’t the first choice for Al Capone in the film, as actors, including Bob Hoskins, Marlon Brando, and Gene Hackman were too considered for the role.
Brian de Palma Had No Intentions To ExpandMission: Impossible
Unlike many long-running Hollywood franchises, which are mostly studio-driven,Mission: Impossiblehas always been director-driven. Whether it be John Woo’s stylizedMI 2or Christopher McQuarrie’s thrilling modern installments, the director has always had the upper hand in theTom Cruise-led franchise. But back whenBrian De Palmamade the firstMIfilm, delivering a suspense-filled espionage thriller, he had no intentions of making it a long-running franchise.
So when Cruise approached him for the sequel, the acclaimed filmmaker rejected the offer,stressingthat economics was the lone motivator behind making more of them.
Stories, they keep making them longer and longer only for economic reasons. After I made ‘Mission: Impossible,’ Tom asked me to start working on the next one. I said: ‘Are you kidding?’ One of these is enough. Why would anybody want to make another one? Of course, the reason they make another one is to make money. I was never a movie director to make money, which is the big problem of Hollywood. That’s the corruption of Hollywood.
The role of Eliot Ness isn’t the lone major gig that Ford rejected at the time. TheStar Warsstar also refused to star in Steven Spielberg’sSchindler’s List, claiming his star powerwould’ve hindered the actual lessonsof the Oscar-winning film.
“I hope it goes well for them”: Harrison Ford’s Heartbreaking Response to Carrie Fisher After Watching Another Romance on Star Wars Set
The Untouchablesis available to stream on Paramount Plus.
Santanu Roy
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2539
Santanu Roy is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on movies, with over 2,000 articles under his belt. He has been pursuing a degree in Animation and possesses a deep love for the medium of animation. Having spent the better part of the last two years pumping out articles for FW, Santanu excels at covering movie analysis and news surrounding Pixar, DCU, DreamWorks, and Batman’s cinematic legacy.With psychological thrillers and intimate slice-of-life dramas ranking among his favorite genres, Santanu is a big admirer of Luca Guadagnino, Shane Black, Park Chan-wook, and Brad Bird.
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Brian De PalmaHarrison FordKevin CostnerTom Cruise
