Harrison Ford Turned Down One of the Biggest Movies of the '90s

With Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and a more recent Marvel outing under his belt, Harrison Ford is one of the foremost movie stars in modern cinema. However, there was one other mega-franchise that the Hollywood veteran turned down.

During an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, director Steven Spielberg - a frequent collaborator of Ford's - confirmed the rumor to host Josh Horowitz that Harrison Ford was offered the part of Dr. Alan Grant in the original Jurassic Park film, which premiered in 1993. The role ultimately went to Sam Neill.

"He may not remember that, but I sure do," Spielberg said. When asked by Emily Blunt, star of Spielberg's latest film, Disclosure Day, if he was annoyed with his friend's rejection, the filmmaker replied, "I wasn't cross," he said. "I was crushed."

However, as disappointing as Spielberg initially was, he was more than happy with the final result, leading to Neill's casting - which he now views as the perfect one. "But then Sam Neill came available and ... And he's Alan Grant, and it now belongs to him," Spielberg said.

In another recent admission, Spielberg revealed Indiana Jones could've looked very different, as well. If you find it hard to picture Harrison Ford in Jurassic Park, Spielberg also had a rather different actor in mind for ol' Indy.

ON the IMO Podcast with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson, Spielberg revealed that he and George Lucas - who wrote and executive produced the Indiana Jones franchise films - "both discovered and decided that Tom Selleck should play Indiana Jones" in 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark.

"He came in, and he read for the part. He was good," Spielberg added of Selleck. "His test was good. I loved it."

Obviously, things didn't work out, as Selleck had his own iconic character to focus on.

"The strings of destiny didn't cross with Tom. We wanted Tom," Spielberg continued. "We gave Tom the part, and then he had, which we didn't realize, an outstanding contract with the CBS network to do Magnum P.I.. When they heard we wanted Tom, they immediately put Magnum P.I. into production, pre-empting Tom from being in Indiana Jones."

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 18, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published June 18, 2026 at 3:46 PM.