Harrison Ford was “squandering his life” before discovering acting.
The Star Wars and Indiana Jones legend has reflected on his “riotous living” during his college years, where he “did not make good choices” which led to his grades being in “real trouble” by his junior year.
Speaking to over 14,000 undergraduate students at Arizona State University this week, he said: “I was squandering my life in riotous living.”
He needed an “easy A”, and decided to enrol in a drama class, which he figured would see him “work at the box office or build sets”.
Instead, Harrison, now 83, found himself enamoured with acting, and he soon ended up landing major roles in their stage shows.
He recalled: “My classmates were people I had previously discounted as geeks and misfits. But I soon realised I was a geek and a misfit.
“I had found my fit. These were my people.”
Harrison had found a “community”, and appearing on stage gave him a “bravery” he hadn’t felt.
He added: “I began to find myself onstage, pretending to be someone else.
“I had always seen myself as shy, but hiding in character and costume and makeup, I had a freedom, a bravery I had never felt before.”
Harrison ended up performing in summer theatre, and before graduating from college, he followed his mentor — the head of the theatre department — to California.
There, he had to support his family with carpentry jobs, as acting wasn’t providing enough of an income.
Harrison admitted his life change after 15 years — during which time he’d only landed “four or five” roles — when he was cast in Star Wars as Han Solo.
It meant “the load lightened” and he was able to embrace his “passion” for the arts, but his “purpose” came when he joined the environmental non-profit Conservation International.
He explained: “I didn’t want to be a poster boy for the cause.
“I wanted to be part of the work, so I was invited to join the board some 35 years ago, and that’s why I stand here now before you: To represent for nature, the source of life itself.”
And he urged the students in the audience to “harness that power” they have, and fight for the issues they believe in.
As a final piece of advice, Shrinking star Harrison encouraged the class of 2026 to embrace every opportunity in their lives.
He added: “What could be worse than getting to the end of your life and realising that you haven’t fully lived it?
“Congratulations. Go change the world.”
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