April 2013 American Way Magazine - page 44

HARRISON FORD
“The first time he hadhismakeup and
wardrobeon, I said tohim inagoodway, ‘I
don’t think anybody’s going to recognize
HarrisonFord in there,’ ”Helgeland says.
“Andhesaid, ‘Oh,thatguy.Ithinkwe’veseen
enoughofhimforawhile.Wecandowithout
HarrisonFord forawhile.’”
The first reviews of the filmwere the
most impressive because theywere deliv-
eredby theRobinson family. SharonRob-
inson, Jackie’sdaughter, saw thefirstcutof
thefilm inNewYorkwithRachelRobinson,
hermother,who is90. (Jackiedied in1972.)
“Momwas sonervouswhenwewent in
that theater and so thrilledwhenwe came
out,”Sharon says. “Itwas ahuge relief.We
trustedeverybody tomakeanhonest film,
andtoseehow itturnedoutwassogreat.”
ForFord, it is a signatureperformance
of anewvariety—asacharacteractorwho
plays a real person. InRickey, he found a
manassmartandas interesting— ifnotas
adventurous— as Indiana Jones. Rickey,
whodiedat age83 in 1965,was avisionary
responsible for inventingbaseball training
Bosemanhadonlyminorroles,primarilyon
television,beforereadingfortheroleofRob-
inson.Havinghisfirststarringroleopposite
HarrisonFordwasanunbelievablebonus.
“ForChadwick,itwasexciting,”Helgeland
says.“HegrewupwatchingallthoseIndiana
JonesandStarWarsmovies longbeforehe
everdreamedofbeinganactor.Itwasagood
challenge forhimtonotbe intimidated.”
Helgeland creditsFord for puttingnot
onlyBosemanbut also theentire cast and
crew at ease. Ford’spresencehad anotice-
able effect on everyone on the set of the
movie,whichwasfilmedmostlyinAlabama.
“Hedidn’twork for thefirst threeor four
weeks becausewewereworking onother
partsofthefilm,”Helgelandsays.“Butwhen
he showed up, you could tell everything
moved a little quicker. Everyone thought,
‘Harrison Ford has arrived,’ so everyone
had tobeon their ‘A’ game. Itwas great for
everybody.”
Andoncetheywereontheset,Helgeland
knew right away thatFordwas going tobe
successful.
It’s anunsettling scene, andHelgeland
admitstherewasafine linebetweengetting
thepointacrossandoverdoing it.
“Youhad tohave it,”Helgeland says. “I
thought itwasgoingtobethedividingpoint
in thefilmbecausehowmuchof that stuœ
is toomuch ispersonalopinion. Jackiewas
suchastrongguythat ithadtobeenoughto
wherehehad the scene in the tunnel. You
havetobelievehewasdriventothat.”
The storytelling in thefilm is so strong,
however, that thescenehadaunitingeœect
on testaudiencesand likelywill on thegen-
eralpublicaswell.
“Theaudience issowithhimatthatpoint
that they feel like it’s happening to them,”
Helgelandsays. “Ifyoucanpull thatoœ, it’s
agreat thing. If youarewhite, blackorHis-
panicandyoucan sit thereandwatch that
sceneand feelwhat it’s like, that’swhatwe
were going for.Wewere trying toput the
audience inhisshoes.”
Boseman delivers a breakthrough per-
formance in themovie,which isnamed 42
inreferencetoRobinson’suniformnumber.
46 APRIL 01, 2013 AA.COM/AMERICANWAY
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