About the Cast...

HARRISON FORD (Allie Fox) has played some of the world's most popular screen heroes, starring in five of the ten most successful films of all time: as the roguish space pirate Han Solo in George Lucas's "Star Wars" (1977), "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980), and "Return of the Jedi" (1983); and as the daring adventurer Indiana Jones in Steven Spielberg's "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981) and "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" (1984). He received an Academy Award nomination for his performance as John Book, the Philadelphia detective who seeks refuge in a Pennsylvania Amish community, in Peter Weir's popular and critical success "Witness" (1985).

Ford made his film debut in 1964 as a bellboy in "Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round" and was promptly informed by a studio executive that his performance lacked star quality--he was acting too much like a bellboy! "Was I demoralized?" asks Ford. "You bet I was. Particularly as the studio thought it would be a good idea if I wore my hair like Elvis Presley and changed my name. I suggested Kurt Affair. After that, there was no more talk of changing names." Ford continued with Columbia for eighteen months, playing small roles in Clive Donner's "Luv" (1967) and Phil Karlson's "A Time for Killing" (1967), before his seven-year contract was terminated by mutual consent. Shortly afterwards, he signed a similar contract with Universal, appearing in the film "Journey to Shiloh" and on such television series as "Ironside," "Gunsmoke" and "The Virginian." Universal loaned him to MGM for Michelangelo Antonioni's "Zabriskie Point" (1970) and back to Columbia for Richard Rush's "Getting Straight" (1970).

Realizing he was not getting the kind of challenging roles he wanted, Ford stopped acting for a few years and supported himself as a carpenter. In 1972, he was cast as Bob Falfa, the hot-rodder, in George Lucas' "American Graffiti" and the next year he played an evil corporate hatchet man in Francis Coppola's "The Conversation." He then played a tearful witness in the TV film "The Trial of Lieutenant Calley" (1974) and Sarah Miles' eldest son in the television movie of James Michener's "Dynasty" (1976). Ford's main career remained carpentry until George Lucas propelled him into "a galaxy far, far away" as Han Solo in "Star Wars" (1977).

"The Mosquito Coast," says Ford, "was the best thing I've seen since 'Witness.' I was perfectly willing to sit around for a year and a half to wait for something as interesting as this to come along. But I was also happy to have the opportunity to work with Peter Weir again. First of all, we have a lot of fun; there's a real spontaneous flow of ideas. And it seems that there's some mysterious continuity of experience between us that's not biography. I feel a sureness and support of the ideas I'm going for when I work with him."

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