The return of the hero

SURE, he’s been the star of three enormously successful franchises, playing the dashing adventurer Han Solo in the first three “Star Wars” blockbusters, the equally dashing adventurer Indiana Jones in the Steven Spielberg-directed trilogy and the reluctant CIA hero Jack Ryan in two films based on Tom Clancy’s bestsellers.

But it’s still staggering to realize that Harrison Ford’s films have a total gross of more than $3 billion, with an average gross of $108.7 million.

That said, he’s endured a rough patch of late: Ford’s last hit film was the 2000 thriller, “What Lies Beneath.” His most recent feature, the critically panned 2003 buddy cop thriller “Hollywood Homicide,” made a meager $30.9 million.

Did he stay away from making features the last three years recovering from the “Homicide” debacle?

“It didn’t take that long to heal,” he said with a wry smile. “I am a quick healer.”

Instead, the delay can be attributed in part to unexpected changes to the shooting schedule for his latest movie, “Firewall,” which opens Friday and allows Ford a chance to do what he does best -- play the hero.

He stars as Jack Stanfield, a top-ranking executive at a Seattle bank -- a computer security specialist who is renowned for designing the most effective antitheft computer systems in the industry. He has a lovely wife (Virginia Madsen), two kids and an adorable dog.

Unbeknown to him, though, a slick, ruthless thief (Paul Bettany) has spent the last year studying Jack and his family, finding his way into every part of their lives. One evening, he and his team take over the Stanfields’ house and demand that Jack help them steal $100 million from the bank -- or else.

Of course, Jack steps up to the challenge.

“I don’t think this is an action film,” Ford said. “It’s a thriller. There are three, maybe four, minutes in the whole film that is action; the rest of it is suspense. That’s what attracted me to the emotional fabric of it.”

“Firewall” is dedicated to Patricia McQueeney, Ford’s manager of 35 years, who died in September at 77.

“She found the script,” Ford said. “We worked seamlessly together. Now I find myself doing things I haven’t had to do for 35 years and really missing her. She did so much for me, not just the little practical details. I am not trying to replace her. That’s not going to happen.”

KNOWN for his laconic style, Ford may not be the most gregarious of interviewees, but he is definitely one of the politest.

When he realizes there isn’t cold Diet Coke in his hotel room’s refrigerator for his visitor, he takes a glass, fills it with ice, pours the warm Diet Coke and then carries the drink over to the table.

“He’s very well-mannered,” said “Firewall” director Richard Loncraine (“Richard III,” “The Gathering Storm”). “I have to say his manners are not skin deep. He was well mannered and helpful through a lot of stress. That is when you separate the men from the boys.”

And Ford is certainly not a boy anymore. He’s 63 and a veteran of 40 years in the movie business. Though his hair is gray, Ford, less than two years away from senior citizen status, is considerably fit. Wearing a hoop earring in his left ear, blue jeans and a tight-fitting dark blue T-shirt, the actor is trim and muscular.

Loncraine found Ford to be a good ally on the set of “Firewall.” “I know it’s not a good story to say, ‘He was nice to work with,’ but he was. We have become good friends. He is a very wise man. He really knows what he wants.”

And what he doesn’t want -- such as putting all his trust in a director.

Said Ford: “What does that mean [when a director says] ‘trust me’? Does that mean I should obviate all of my experience? Should I replace a certain knowledge with belief? Where does that get you? I have had experience in my life. I am 63 years old. Why should I be trusting a director?”

Ford said he prefers to “collaborate” with a director.

“If somebody has a good idea, you take advantage of that, and if you don’t think it’s a good idea, you say, ‘I don’t think the idea is sufficient, sir. Can we think about another way of doing it?’

“I think I am available to be directed, but a lot of people who approach the job of directing have a very arbitrary sense of how they want something to be accomplished. I just don’t think it’s organically necessary.”

Ford describes his approach to a role as “the let’s-pretend school of acting. If real emotion is available, use it, otherwise I follow what I think is an AA rule: ‘Fake it till you make it.’ Emotions are an interesting language. Sometimes [emotions] sneak up on you when you’re not expecting, when you are available to it.”

Ford has no desire to direct. “Bob Hoskins told me [directing] was like being pecked by penguins,” he said. “I am interested in the job I have. I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out the job I have.”

Ford is sporting a beard for an upcoming film, “Manhunt,” in which he plays the Army detective who captured John Wilkes Booth after he assassinated President Lincoln

“We are working on the script at the moment, so research is the order of the day,” Ford said. “I am working with Andrew Marlowe, who was the screenwriter of ‘Air Force One.’ ”

After he finishes “Manhunt,” he hopes to return for the fourth time to play Indiana Jones for Spielberg. It’s been 17 years since Ford starred in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”

“We are closer than we have ever been [to a finished script],” he said. “There have been a lot of hands that have stirred the pot, but we are close. It will be pure fun. I like working with Steven.”

Ford says that the new adventure will be set in the mid-1950s “to acknowledge the period of time that has passed. It would be foolish to take the same period of time as before. I think we have a terrific context.”

And will Sean Connery return as Indy’s father?

“Hopefully,” Ford said with a smile.