28/10/2025
During a rare public conversation in 2023, Harrison Ford reflected on a deeply personal chapter of his career, his on-screen and off-screen relationship with Sean Connery during the making of "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (1989). Ford said that working with Connery, who portrayed Indiana’s father, Professor Henry Jones Sr., became more than a casting success, it developed into an unexpectedly intimate, father-son bond that lasted beyond filming.
Ford revealed that the chemistry between them did not rely on heavy dialogue or manufactured scenes. Instead, much of it grew out of instinct and mutual respect. “Sean didn’t try to play a father,” Ford said in an interview with Variety, “he was one. Not in a patronizing way, but in a protective, guiding way. I respected him so much that following his lead came naturally.”
One of the most humanizing aspects Ford shared was how Connery, though internationally celebrated and often seen as intimidating, brought a disarming warmth to their dynamic. Ford remembered a moment during a lunch break on set in Spain when they sat in costume on fold-up chairs, sharing laughs over their oddly similar childhood stories. “He asked me how I got along with my dad,” Ford said. “And I said, ‘We were fine, not very close, but respectful.’ Sean just nodded, and said, ‘Aye. That’s a familiar tune.’ That’s when I realized we were doing more than acting, we were channeling something we both understood.”
Steven Spielberg, too, had commented in past interviews that the emotional heart of the film worked so well because Ford and Connery genuinely liked each other and interacted in ways that mirrored real-life familial tension and tenderness. Ford echoed this, saying that the improvisational moments, like when Indiana calls his father “Dad” instead of “Sir” for the first time, were not heavily scripted. “That ‘Dad’ line hit Sean in the chest. He told me later that it surprised him. He smiled and said, ‘You finally grew up, Junior.’”
Connery, known for his sharp wit, brought levity between takes. Ford said, “He made me laugh even when I didn’t want to. I’d be frustrated over a scene not working, and he’d nudge me and whisper something in Scots slang that made no sense, and I’d start laughing uncontrollably.” One evening after filming a long desert sequence, Connery invited Ford to dinner in his trailer. They didn’t talk about acting, scripts, or directors. They spoke about aging, regrets, and what being a man meant. “He said to me, ‘You know, the hardest thing isn’t being brave. It’s being vulnerable when it counts.’ That stuck with me.”
After Connery’s passing in 2020, Ford remained mostly private, but when asked about their time together, he chose to honor the bond instead of the professional success. In a candid interview for The Hollywood Reporter, he said, “He gave me something I didn’t know I needed. He gave me a sense of comfort. You don’t get many men in your life who teach you something quietly, with dignity. Sean did that.”
During the press tour for "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," Ford was asked what scene from his career he’d want to relive. He paused, then quietly said, “Sitting in that blimp with Sean. That whole sequence. We weren’t acting. We were just two men, figuring each other out.”
Ford’s tribute to Connery is less about shared fame and more about a friendship rooted in unexpected emotional transparency. Their portrayal of father and son might have been written in a script, but what audiences saw was a reflection of real understanding, delivered by two actors who connected far beyond the screen.
That bond between Ford and Connery lives quietly in the pauses, the glances, and the silences between lines, where real affection needs no explanation.