One of cinema’s greats, Harrison Ford, who have starred in the most successful and acclaimed films in history, including the landmark “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” franchises plays a pivotal role in the latest unforgettable love story to unfold on screens, “The Age of Adaline” with Blake Lively in the title role along with Academy Award winning actresses Kathy Baker and Ellen Burstyn.
In the movie, having miraculously remained 29 years old for almost eight decades, Adaline Bowman (Lively) has lived a solitary existence, never allowing herself to get close to anyone who might reveal her secret. But a chance encounter with charismatic philanthropist Ellis Jones (Michiel Huisman) reignites her passion for life and romance. When a weekend with his parents (Ford and Baker) threatens to expose the truth, Adaline makes a decision that will change her life forever.
Harrison Ford plays Ellis’s father, William, a college professor. “Harrison Ford was the first and only choice to play William as far as I was concerned,” says Krieger. “We needed someone who brought real intelligence to the role and was clearly a heartthrob in his day. Harrison has always been great playing an academic, be he also captures the ethereal side of William.”
Lively admits she was a little nervous to meet the Oscar®-nominated actor she says. “Maybe I should not have watched the Indiana Jones trilogy before shooting. He is a brilliant actor, and true personal hero.”
The script’s whimsical premise paired with its down-to-earth approach to Adaline’s miraculous life caught the actor’s fancy. “This is very different from anything I’ve done before,” says Ford. “It’s one of those movies that is about being transported into a fantasy, but played very realistically. It’s a very clever construction. It was a delight to work on an ambitious movie that has a magical thinking to it. The audience is taken to an extraordinary world, but not the world of high-tech science fiction. It has roots in everyday life plus just enough magic to excite your imagination and open your heart.”
The film’s leading lady made a lasting impression on the Star Wars star, “She works very hard at what she is doing and is terrific in the part,” says Ford. “As an actor, she’s fully prepared, she’s inventive, she’s patient and she’s very generous with the other actors.”
Ford’s character is celebrating his 40th wedding anniversary when his son brings home a girl who looks, sounds and acts exactly like a woman he was in love with 45 years earlier. “William is a scientist,” says the actor. “He knows there’s no realistic way this can happen. His wife, played by Kathy Baker, thinks he’s pining for this long-ago romance.”
Ford has special praise for Baker, whose work he says he has admired for many years. “Kathy was terrific in helping make that part of the story come alive,” Ford says.
Baker shared Ford’s sentiment, “The Age of Adaline was a dream job for me. Harrison is fun and funny and smart and professional and witty and wise, and I was very lucky to have the opportunity to work with him. The film is beautiful to look at and is full of romance and magic; I am looking forward to sharing it with our audiences."
Lively says the film is unlike any she's ever seen in its exploration of that idea. "It's about love and loss and what they mean if you were able to live forever," she says. "Is that a gift or is it a curse? I walked away from Adaline's story thinking that life happens exactly the way it's supposed to. To live life surrounded by the people you love, to come and go with them, that feels like the perfect order to me."
An unforgettable journey in time starts when “The Age of Adaline” opens May 20 in cinemas nationwide from Pioneer Films.
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