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‘I don’t know what a legend does for a living’: Harrison Ford reveals why he rejects the label everyone on Earth would give him

He sees the value in the term, but isn't quite receptive to it himself.

Harrison Ford
Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images

Few names in the world of Hollywood boast the weight that Harrison Ford‘s does; from Star Wars to Blade Runner to his upcoming role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the storied film star has been around the block more than a few times, and with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny gearing up for a release this week, this could be one of the last times we see the main man himself spearheading a film in his bread-and-butter action hero role.

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Indeed, we know Ford will be hanging up the mantle of Indiana Jones for good in Dial of Destiny, and while it won’t necessarily be the career sendoff for Ford himself, there’s a particular end-of-an-era air that seems to hang over the film beyond the camera. That’s all speculation, of course; if any legend were capable of whipping up just about any character he sets his mind to — action hero or not — it’s Ford.

Of course, it turns out that the longtime leading man isn’t particularly fond of the being called a legend in the industry, revealing in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that he mostly associates the term with being old, which some might argue is a virtue in its own right, but Ford doesn’t seem to agree.

“I suppose legend means that you’ve been around for a long time. And I think it’s meant to be, uh, gracious, but it just, uh… sounds old. I’m clever enough to figure out that it’s meant to be a nice thing to say, and so it must be. But I’m just telling you what my gut reaction to it is.”

It’s a bit of a surprise, considering that Ford has aged like wine straight from the Holy Grail, but if his first thought about the word “legend” is an apparently unwanted reminder that he turned 80 last summer, perhaps we should all do him a favor and try something like “icon” instead.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is due in theaters on June 30.