Harrison Ford has admitted that a number of jokes about Indiana Jones’ age were pulled from the franchise’s latest film.
The 80-year-old actor is currently gearing up for the release of Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny, which will see him portraying the iconic character for the fifth time on the big screen.
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Harrison was asked about the “old Indy” jokes that peppered the fourth film in the series, which could be perceived as “outdated” in 2023.
“In [Dial of Destiny] there were a lot of old jokes in the script,” Harrison said of the upcoming film. “We took them all out.”
Explaining why, he continued: “There is a moment where he observes himself in this situation and says, ‘What the fuck am I doing in here?’.
“But I hate what I call ‘talking about the story’. I want to see circumstances in which the audience gets a chance to experience the story, not to be led through the nose with highlights pointed out to them.”
He added: “I’d rather create behaviour that is the joke of age rather than talk about it.”
Earlier in the interview, Harrison was asked about the poor reviews that the fourth Indiana Jones film, Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, received at the time.
“[The critics] were harsh on it, but what are they doing now?” he questioned. “I understand. But those were their rules — not [director Steven Spielberg’s and co-writer George Lucas’] rules. They were imposing their rules on what the movie should be.
“I don’t feel it’s necessary to address those issues. I think that everyone has a right to their opinion.
“The film was not as successful as we wanted it to be, perhaps. But it didn’t create an attitude or a behaviour that carried over into this film.”
Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny will see Harrison returning to the franchise alongside former co-stars John Rhys-Davies.
He’ll also be joined by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas and Mads Mikkelsen.
Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny will hit cinemas on 30 June.