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Nobody’s perfect. Harrison Ford confessed that he thinks he could have done a better job in raising his five children over the years.
“If I’d been less successful, I’d probably be a better parent,” the Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny star, 80, told Esquire in an interview published Wednesday, May 31. He went on to note that “the more constant gardener is the better parent,” as he has been “out of town, up my own ass, for most of my life.”
Ford shares sons Ben, 55, and Willard, 54, with ex-wife Mary Marquardt, to whom he was married from 1964 to 1979, and welcomed son Malcolm, 35, and daughter Georgia, 32, with his late ex-wife, Melissa Mathison, who died in 2015. The Golden Globe nominee also raises son Liam with wife Calista Flockhart, who adopted the now 22-year-old before meeting Ford.
The Fugitive star shared that Flockhart — whom he married in 2010 — gives him “s—t” about not taking his “mental health seriously.” However, he said she’s got it all wrong.
“I was trying to say, as I explained to her: It’s that I accommodate all of the flaws that people go to psychiatrists to accommodate, because I accept my flaws,” the Star Wars actor explained. “I accept my flaws and my failures — I don’t accept them, I own them.”
Ford has previously been candid about his role as a father, even confessing that he didn’t expect to have kids at an older age. “I think Liam was about 6 or 8 months when I met him and Calista,” he told Parade in January 2010. “We have been together ever since.”
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The Chicago native was over 60 years old when he adopted Liam after marrying the Ally McBeal alum. However, being an older dad is something the Blade Runner star said he doesn’t “dwell” on.
“I have a 9-year-old kid at home. I feel like that father of a 9-year-old kid,” he said told the Independent in February 2010.
Ford went on to add that his “older children have taught me a lot about parenting,” stating, “My first child was born when I was 25. I reckon I’m a little better at it now.”
Calista Flockhart, Ben Ford, Ben’s ex-wife, Elizabeth Ford, Harrison’s mother, Dorothy, Harrison Ford and grandson, Ethan attend Harrison Ford’s Hollywood Walk of Fame Ceremony. Bei/Shutterstock
When Liam came into his life, the Age of Adaline star was able to enjoy becoming a parent all over again. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to be part of a child’s growing up, which is always an endless springtime,” he said in a May 2008 interview with Reader’s Digest. “You see the blossoming and the growing and the nurturing and the payoff.”
He also praised Flockhart for being “the best [mother] in the world,” telling the outlet, “She’s devoted herself to Liam and has done a really wonderful job raising him. I’m happy to now have a part of the job.”
The couple recently stepped out for a rare public appearance to celebrate Liam at his graduation from Amherst College in Massachusetts on Sunday, May 28. Ford sported a navy suit and light blue shirt, while Flockhart paired a white detailed dress with black ballet flats and a white purse.
