Indiana Jones and the legacy of Harrison Ford

In a lengthy new interview with Esquire, Harrison Ford delves into well-known territory — how he got his role as Han Solo in Star Wars, for example — and deeper stuff, like what kind of a dad he thinks he is and how he’d like to be remembered.

Ford, who will turn 81 on July 13 — a couple of weeks after his final Indiana Jones movie hits theaters — is famously guarded, but shares some interesting tidbits about his life.

Like how his friend Jimmy Buffett helped snag him a boat to live on off the coast of Belize while filming 1986’s The Mosquito Coast.

Or his response to a “disappointed” Elton John when he told his fellow icon he would never write an autobiography. “I said, ‘I didn’t want to tell the truth … But I didn’t want to lie, either.'”

A pilot for 28 years, Ford enthused about aviation: “I will not be buried under a stone that says ‘actor’. For me, flying is as important a part of my life as my business. It’s not like playing golf.”

With shades of his role on Apple TV+’s Shrinking as a therapist whose daughter moves away because her parents are too busy, Ford admits, “I can tell you this: If I’d been less successful, I’d probably be a better parent.”

Ford says he “owns” his flaws, adding, “And certainly the more constant gardener is the better parent, and I’ve been out of town, up my own a** for most of my life.”

Ford is a father of five: Benjamin, 56, and Willard, 54, from his marriage to ex-wife Mary Marquardt; Malcolm, 35, and Georgia, 32, from his marriage to the late E.T. screenwriter Melissa Mathison; and Liam Flockhart Ford, 21, the adopted son of his wife, Calista Flockhart.

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