Harrison Ford Defends The De-Aging Scene In 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny'

Actor Harrison Ford is reflecting on the de-aging scene in "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," which made its debut at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this month.

Director James Mangold previously confirmed that that scene lasts about 25 minutes and reduces Ford's age to hold out he was in "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

Although some fans aren't happy with the VFX technology that was created specifically to de-age the 80-year-old actor, it appears that the "Star Wars" alum has no problem with it.

At the Cannes Film Festival, "The Fugitive" actor defended the use of VFX technology in order to recreate his appearance from decades ago.

"I know that that is my face," Ford said (via Entertainment Weekly). "It's not a kind of Photoshop magic — that's what I looked like 35 years ago. Because Lucasfilm has every frame of film that we've made together over all of these years. And this process, this scientific mining of this library, this was put to good [use]..."

"It's just a trick unless it's supported by a story, and it sticks out like a sore thumb if it's not honest, it's not real... I mean, emotionally real," he continued. "And so I think it was used very skillfully."

Ford also expressed his contentment with his current appearance. "I'm very happy with it, but I don't look back and say, 'I wish I was that guy again,' because I don't," Ford said. "I'm real happy with age. I love being older. It was great to be young, but s---fire I could be dead, and I'm still working."

In an interview with Total Film Magazine earlier this year, director James Mangold said that Ford was “incredibly gifted and agile” while filming the scenes where he would ultimately be de-aged. Mangold went on to say that it was easy for Ford to “pretend that he was 35.”

“But the technology involved is a whole other thing,” Mangold told the magazine. “We had hundreds of hours of footage of him in close-ups, in mediums, in wides, in every kind of lighting, night and day. I could shoot Harrison on a Monday as, you know, a 79-year-old playing a 35-year-old, and I could see dailies by Wednesday with his head already replaced.”

“It wasn’t a year of effort to get to a first pass,” Mangold continued. “It was an incredible technology, and, in many ways, I just didn’t think about it. I just focused on shooting what’s [approximately] a 25-minute opening extravaganza that was my chance to just let it rip."

"The goal was to give the audience a full-bodied taste of what they missed so much," he added. "Because then when the movie lands in 1969, they’re going to have to make an adjustment to what it is now, which is different from what it was.”

The Cannes Film Festival wasn't the first time that Ford defended the use of de-aging technology in the film. In February 2023, Ford appeared on “The Late Show” and told host Stephen Colbert that Lucasfilm created his appearance after combing through decades-old footage of the actor from his previous roles in “Indiana Jones” and “Star Wars” to create his younger self.

“They have this artificial intelligence program that can go through every foot of film that Lucasfilm owns,” Ford said. “Because I did a bunch of movies for them, they have all this footage, including film that wasn’t printed. So they can mine it from where the light is coming from, from the expression.”

“I don’t know how they do it. But that’s my actual face,” Ford continued. “Then I put little dots on my face and I say the words and they make [it]. It’s fantastic.”

Although he seems happy with the technology now, the “Witness” actor did admit to Empire that seeing himself de-aged was “a little spooky,” adding, “This is the first time I’ve seen it where I believe it… I don’t think I even want to know how it works, but it works. It doesn’t make me want to be young, though. I’m glad to have earned my age.”

"Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" will premiere in the U.S. on June 30.