Harrison Ford Tore Ligaments Filming ‘The Fugitive’ That Gave His Character a Limp
Harrison Ford has been acting for over 50 years, rising to fame in 1977 for his iconic performance as Han Solo in the Star Wars franchise. Throughout his career, he has taken on legendary characters such as Indiana Jones and has had his fair share of injuries during filming.
Despite intense safety protocols on movie sets, injuries sometimes occur and can result in significant production delays. However, depending on the severity of the injury and the actor’s willingness to proceed, sometimes “the show must go on!”
That was the case in the 1993 film The Fugitive, where Ford tore several ligaments in his knee, resulting in his character having an onscreen limp.
The premise of ‘The Fugitive’
Nominated for the 1994 Best Picture of the Year by the Academy Awards, The Fugitive follows the story of Chicago surgeon Dr. Richard Kimble, played by the Indiana Jones alum. Kimble is unjustly accused of killing his wife and sentenced to death. When the transport he is on taking him to jail crashes, the doctor escapes and goes on the run in search of the actual killer.
He becomes the subject of a nationwide manhunt, led by a determined U.S. Marshal, played by Tommy Lee Jones, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. The film, which was based on a 1960s television series, celebrates its 30th anniversary this month.
How Harrison Ford got hurt during filming ‘The Fugitive’
Ford tore the ligaments in his knee while filming the iconic crash scene where he attempts to jump from a moving bus that is crashed into by an actual full-scale train. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the acclaimed actor explained, “I was safely removed from the scene when it happened.” He revealed, “Through the magic of movies, I appear to be jumping.”
The Star Wars actor said that when he attempted to jump, he planted his right foot and cut left, and that is when he heard the ligaments snap. Determined to avoid production delays, Ford refused to have surgery and continued filming the rest of the movie, which is why his character has a limp through the second half of The Fugitive.
Harrison Ford tends to be accident-prone when filming his movies
Unfortunately, that was not the only time Ford got injured on a movie set. When filming Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the actor crushed his foot between the hydraulic doors of the Millennium Falcon and required surgery for a broken ankle.
He also tore his ACL filming Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark and pulled the subscapularis muscle in his right shoulder filming Indiana Jones: Dial of Destiny, which shut down production for two weeks. Ford had to recuperate for another six weeks before he could return to work.
Many A-list actors, such as Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, Tom Holland, Jeremy Renner, Charlize Theron, and many more prefer to do their own stunts when making action movies. Ford, who has always been somewhat of a daredevil, has spent his career doing his own stunts. According to Newsweek, stuntman Vic Armstrong, Ford’s stunt double for Indiana Jones: Last Crusade, said he had to pull the legendary actor aside and ask him to “let him do some work” since Ford was doing so many of the stunts himself. Armstrong said, “If he wasn’t such a great actor, he would have made a really great stuntman.”
In a recent interview with Esquire, when asked about being known for doing his own action scenes, the 80-year-old actor replied, “Yeah, well, I’m also known for shutting movies down because I get hurt, which is not something you want to be known for. But hey, sh*t happens.”
