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He kilt it.
Joel Edgerton has revealed how he got Harrison Ford to don a kilt in a new whisky ad campaign he directed.
Edgerton, aged 50, known for his roles in movies like Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby” and for directing movies such as “Boy Erased” and “The Gift,” talked about collaborating with Ford, aged 82, in a recent interview with Variety. The interview was published on Tuesday, the same day the promotions for Glenmorangie Scotch Whisky were unveiled.
The campaign, titled “Once Upon a Time in Scotland,” comprises a series of episodic films that track Ford, portraying himself, as he embarks on a journey to the Highland residence of Glenmorangie, Andross Castle in Scotland.
In his usual blunt manner, Ford makes it clear that he has no intention of engaging in “all that action man stuff that they want,” instead preferring to “sit by the fire and drink.” As the series progresses, viewers witness Ford engaging in activities like meditating, cycling, enjoying a drink by the fire as he desired, and even trying on a traditional kilt.
Despite Ford’s perceived Edge, Edgerton says he discovered the “Star Wars” icon has a softer side.
“I’d watched a lot of his interviews, and I realized that true or false, there’s a persona of Harrison’s that is quite gruff and, you know, grumpy, but he’s a bit like an avocado,” the actor and filmmaker explained.
“He’s rock solid on the outside but he’s very soft in the middle. He has an emotional softness and a sensitivity and a humanity that he then covers with this sort of prickly outside.”
As for how Edgerton got Ford to wear a kilt, it all came down to building trust.
Recalling the first time they met, Edgerton shared, “While he was shaking my hand, he said, ‘I heard they want me to ride a horse and fly a plane, and I’m not doing any of that.’ I felt good because that’s exactly what the first spot was going to be about — him going, ‘I don’t want to do what they want me to do.’ We hit it off and by the end of the meeting, he was like, ‘I’ll do whatever you want me to do.’”
“We had a beautiful kilt made,” Edgerton added, noting, “When I was younger, I never thought I’d ever have lunch with Harrison so I certainly could never have imagined that one day I’d be working with Harrison Ford and that these words were going to come out of my mouth, ‘Harrison, can I get you to wear a kilt?’”
The director also revealed that Ford is one of his heroes.
“I am aware that you got to be careful about meeting your heroes. I did wonder, ‘Is Harrison best left as a hero in my mind?’” he remembered musing.
“There’s a certain actor in Hollywood who said, ‘Never meet your heroes unless they’re Harrison Ford’ and he was f–king right, man. He was such a legend in person as much as he lives as a legend in my mind.”