Harrison Ford Injured Himself on Other Movie Sets, Not Just ‘Indiana Jones’
Harrison Ford is one of the most prolific actors still working today. He’s been a leading man for nearly six decades now, starring in some of the best movies of all time. All this acclaim has cost him a ton of blood, sweat, and tears — sometimes literally. While many are already aware of the injury he got filming his latest Indiana Jones project, he’s actually hurt himself in several other films.
Harrison Ford was recently injured while filming the fifth ‘Indiana Jones’ movie
On June 23, 2021, news came out that Ford was hurt while filming scenes in the latest Indiana Jones film. Returning to the role yet again, Ford was reportedly rehearsing for a fight scene when he incurred a shoulder injury. Details were sparse as to the extent of the damage, though many jumped to assume the filming would halt while he recovered.
However, this didn’t seem to happen. Though work slowed, the rest of the cast rallied and kept going while the Star Wars star recovered. For his part, the spry 79-year-old action hero got back to it pretty quickly, too. This setback seemingly didn’t hurt production overall, with filming complete as of February 2022.
This isn’t the first time Ford has been hurt while playing Indy
Ford is well known for putting his all into roles he’s passionate about, so it’s almost not a surprise that this isn’t the first time he’s been injured while playing Dr. Jones. In Raiders of the Lost Ark, Ford performed many of his own stunts, including the iconic temple escape in the opening.
While that stunt went off without a hitch, he was far less lucky with the truck chase scene. Ford was really hanging on to the truck as it drove along. He’d bruised his ribs as it sped back and forth across the road. In another instance, a plane ran over his knee, though he luckily escaped with just a torn ligament. Humorously, Ford took it all in stride, arguing they’d have had him film the rest of his scenes first before tossing him in there if the risk was higher.
While not an injury, Raiders also gave way to an infamous story in which most of the cast and crew got sick with dysentery. This gave audiences the hilarious scene in which Indy casually shot a flashy swordsman to death instead of engaging him in a drawn-out duel. They concocted this moment because Ford couldn’t get away from the toilet for more than a few minutes, opting for an easier (and quicker) solution for his character.
‘Indiana Jones’ isn’t the only franchise that’s hurt Ford
Newsweek created a timeline of some of Ford’s injuries throughout his career. Thankfully, he’s managed to avoid too many serious ones.
In addition to Raiders and the upcoming Indiana Jones entry, Ford also suffered a herniated disc during the filming of Temple of Doom due to riding elephants for too long. Reportedly, he still insisted on filming for quite some time after the injury, even performing action sequences. Though he finally went to the hospital for treatment, he returned to set quickly.
Indiana Jones isn’t a uniquely cursed franchise, though. While filming The Fugitive, Ford sustained another leg injury. You can actually see this in the film, as his character develops a limp midway through and keeps it for the entire movie. This is because Ford refused to stop filming for treatment, only doing so when it wrapped.
Finally, there was an incident during the production of one Star Wars flick. While shooting The Force Awakens, one of the Millennium Falcon’s hydraulic doors crushed Ford’s foot during one scene. This time, he finally did slow down to get surgery.
