Random Cast Of 'Indiana Jones' Thinks Of Classic Adventure Series (9 items)

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  (#5) Cate Blanchett

  • Actor

  As Russian agent Irina Spalko, actress Cate Blanchett played Indy's newest nemesis in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - but she once had her heart set on a very different role in the franchise. "Everyone at my primary school wanted to kiss Harrison Ford," she told Parade in 2008, "but I actually wanted to be Harrison Ford. I wanted to be Indiana Jones!" 

  Blanchett had nothing but praise for Indy's original outing. "[I]t was utterly electric, utterly transporting. The Raiders theme still gives me goosebumps," she said.
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  (#1) Harrison Ford

  • Actor

  When asked about the possibility of Chris Pratt becoming the next Indiana Jones, Harrison Ford said, "Nobody is gonna be Indiana Jones. Don’t you get it? I’m Indiana Jones." He added, "When I’m gone, he’s gone. It’s easy."

  Ford summed up his thoughts on the topic with, "This is a hell of a way to tell Chris Pine this. I’m sorry, man." Chris Pine is, of course, another actor entirely, and the mix-up between "Pine" and "Pratt" was likely a mistake. Regardless, Ford has made his point clear: If anybody wants to play Indiana Jones, they'll have to pry the role from his weathered, archeologist fingers.
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  (#3) John Rhys-Davies

  • Actor

  In an interview with The A.V. Club, John Rhys-Davies discussed the love he has for Sallah, and how he viewed his character in Raiders of the Lost Ark:

  I didn’t want to make him just a comic figure or some sort of caricature, so I tried to develop him as an intelligent man who was an opportunist yet was also tremendously loyal... a survivor like Indy, but someone who, above all, puts a value on loyalty and friendship.

  However, Rhys-Davies believes that Sallah, and the way he fit into the story, changed in the series' third film. The character became "more comic relief," he said, "because the focus of the film is now on father and son engaging in the ultimate quest, for the Holy Grail. And you accept that, because that’s part of your job."
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  (#9) Kate Capshaw

  • Actor

  Kate Capshaw played Willie Scott, a lounge singer who gets roped into Indiana Jones's escapades in Temple of Doom, but the actress was initially wary to take the role.

  "I was looking at foreign films and little art films, and being a very serious actor studying in Manhattan," Capshaw explained. "At that time, I didn’t ‘do’ sequels. And I didn’t ‘do’ action-adventure." However, Capshaw's agency was persuasive, and she finally agreed to meet director Steven Spielberg. When Spielberg saw her audition, he knew she was the one. 

  Spielberg has said Temple of Doom is his least favorite Indy outing, but it wasn't without its silver lining. He ended up falling in love with Capshaw in real life. As he noted in an interview, "[T]he greatest thing that I got out of that movie was I met Kate Capshaw. We were married years later and that to me was the reason I was fated to make Temple of Doom."
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  (#8) Julian Glover

  British actor Julian Glover used an American accent for his portrayal of Walter Donovan, the American industrialist and collector who allies himself with the bad guys in The Last Crusade. "He's my favorite baddie of all," Glover said in an interview with Red Carpet News TV. "He was the one most easy to justify."

  Glover was referring to the fact that Donovan works with the villains in order to find the Holy Grail. "What would you do for the secret of eternal life?" he asked. "He shouldn't have done what he did," he added, but he felt Donovan's actions were "fully justifiable in my opinion."

  Glover also liked playing Donovan because he "didn't seem to be the bad guy in the beginning," and was a "recognizable bloke" - as opposed to a more overtly evil, two-dimensional type of villain. 

  Glover also praised director Steven Spielberg, whom he said loves his actors and "gives them a good, long leash to play with."
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  (#2) Karen Allen

  The character of Marion Ravenwood is introduced in Raiders as a fiery rabble-rouser with the guts to join any fight, the savvy to run a con, and the nerve to challenge Indiana Jones himself. Karen Allen loved playing Marion, and fans loved her performance, but after the film's success, the actress struggled to distance herself from the role.

  "I spent a good number of years running from that film, in a sense," Allen said in an interview. "[W]hen you do something successfully, there’s an awful lot of people who just want you to do it again and again and again. But that wasn’t very interesting to me."

  Allen was more interested in theater and her development as an artist. "I spent a few years trying to shake Marion off of me," she said. "I played that role, and now I’d like to play something completely different."

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