Harrison Ford is a worldwide super star, whose films have grossed billions of dollars. In the mid-1970’s, however, his Hollywood career had stalled. After showing great promise in American Graffiti, he hadn’t been able to book much work for some reason. He had all but abandoned his acting career and had begun taking jobs as a carpenter. When George Lucas was casting for Star Wars, one of his consultants had suggested Harrison Ford for the role of the rebellious Han Solo. George Lucas wanted fresher faces, however, and balked at hiring Harrison for the role. The clever consultant, however, decided on a bit of subterfuge to change George’s mind; he arranged for Harrison to get hired to install a door at George Lucas’ offices on the day that casting was underway on the film.
When someone was needed to read Han Solo’s lines to the various actors and actresses auditioning for the parts of Princess Leia, the casting consultant suggested that Harrison, who was already there, would be the best person to do it. Over the course of the auditions, George Lucas became sold on Harrison Ford and history was made.
