When we think of Harrison Ford, we also think of Steven Spielberg or George Lucas… but not really of the duo of French directors Agnès Varda and Jacques Demy! And yet… long before he was the actor recently crowned at Cannes with a palme d’honneur, Harrison Ford was, in the 1960s, a young carpenter taking his first steps in the cinema. It is in this context that in 1965, the young man met the famous duo of artists who had come to Hollywood to scout. Jacques Demy was looking for the lead role in his first American film (Model Shop) and fell in love with the actor. Unfortunately, the production preferred another more experienced actor for the role. But a deep friendship between the future Indiana Jones and the couple was born.
See also: Harrison Ford: Goodbye Artist!
“Agnès had her back to the television…”
Invited this Sunday, May 21, 2023 in the magazine Beau Geste by Pierre Lescure, the actor who adores France does not fail to relate this special relationship by offering a funniest anecdote about the director of Cleo from 5 to 7… It is July 20, 1969. American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin become the first human beings to walk on the surface of the Moon. An estimated 600 million people watched the Apollo 11 moon landing live on TV. No one wanted to miss the event. No one except…”Agnès had her back to the television, she didn’t want to see anythingshe was smoking cigarettes while filing photos in an album, she thought it had been a little faked and maybe she was right! (laughs)” The revolutionary Belgian director, who died on March 29, 2019 at the age of 90, strongly marked the American actor who still remembers it with great emotion. He who will have made brief appearances in the universe by Jacques Demy (1995) and Agnès’ beaches (2008), two documentaries in homage to French cinema. The couple will leave the United States to better blossom in France and Harrison Ford will meet a certain George Lucas… The rest, we know it.
VF
Unlikely: Harrison Ford watched the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969 with Agnès Varda and Jacques Demy! #Nice gesture special #Cannes2023 presented by @pierrelescurethis evening at 22.50 on @france2tv and already available on @francetv ! https://t.co/nqf2bMLjKRpic.twitter.com/AyvmBvhTXU
— france.tv cinema (@francetvcinema) May 21, 2023