Harrison Ford Was Anne Heche’s ‘Hero’ for Having Her Back After She Stepped out With Ellen DeGeneres
Late actor Anne Heche once said Harrison Ford was her “hero” for taking on a battle against studio bosses. After she brought Ellen DeGeneres to a movie premiere, she learned a part she’d scored alongside Ford was at risk. And she later revealed she “would not have gotten that movie” in the end if he hadn’t stepped in. Here’s what we know.
Anne Heche once said her relationship with Ellen DeGeneres almost ruined her career
Heche once explained the negative impact her relationship with DeGeneres had on her career. The press gave the couple a lot of attention. But some of the higher-ups who controlled Heche’s contracts weren’t happy at first.
“My movie premiere for Volcano, I had told them that I was taking Ellen as my date and I was told if I took Ellen I would lose my Fox contract,” she explained (per PEOPLE). “At that moment, she took my hand and said, ‘Do what they say,’ and I said, ‘No thanks.'”
Heche concluded, “I took Ellen to the premiere and I was ushered out before the movie even ended and was told I was not allowed to go to my own after party for fear that they would get pictures of me with a woman.”
The stigma attached to the three-and-a-half-year relationship was so enduring that Heche had a hard time getting studio work for more than a decade afterward, she claimed. “I was fired from my multi-million dollar picture deal and I did not work in a studio picture for 10 years,” she shared.
Anne Heche said Harrison Ford ‘fought a battle’ for her
Heche said she almost lost her role in the movie Six Days Seven Nights — which she co-starred in with Ford — after she went public with her relationship with DeGeneres. But the Star Wars icon had her back.
“He fought a battle for me, and I would be on any desert island with him any day,” she once said about her co-star (per Entertainment Tonight).
“I would not have gotten that movie,” she explained. “He called me the day after they said I wasn’t gonna get it, because I took Ellen to the [Volcano] premiere, and Harrison Ford, he was a hero. He said, ‘Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn who you’re sleeping with. We’re gonna make the best romantic comedy there is, and I’ll see ya on the set.'”
“He’s one of my heroes,” she gushed, adding, “He’s an extraordinary human being.”
Anne Heche died following a car accident
Unfortunately, Heche died at 53 on Aug. 12, 2022. She was in a prolonged coma after sustaining injuries in a fiery, high-speed crash on August 5.
After remaining on life support for about a week, a rep for Heche announced doctors did not expect her to regain consciousness. Her loved ones made the decision to remove her from life support after assessing her viability for organ donation, per her final wishes.
