Ethann Isidore talks to Lucasfilm.com about working with Harrison Ford on Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and how he was profoundly influenced by the man in the hat.
The first time that actor Ethann Isidore met Harrison Ford was during the filming of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’s (2023) final scene. “It was really emotional, everyone was crying on set that day,” Isidore recalls about the moment when Ford and Karen Allen have their last reunion as Indy and Marion. As is so often the case with film production, scenes are typically captured out of sequence to the actual story, and during an aside on this fateful day, the young actor playing the new character Teddy had the chance to meet one of his cinematic heroes.
“I was waiting for my turn on set,” Isidore explains, “and then they got me and said it was going to be my first time acting with Harrison Ford. I was so excited but I was also nervous. The first time I saw him, I remember thinking that I was in front of Indiana Jones and Han Solo at the same time, which blew my mind. We shook hands, and he looked at me and said, ‘Terrible casting for Teddy.’ [laughs] I was so confused, so I laughed, even though I didn’t know if it was a joke. Then I saw the whole team laughing, and Harrison started smiling at me. I realized, okay, he’s a funny guy. [laughs] I had been stressed and unsure how to act, and then he made this joke, and I knew he’d be joking all the time.”
“Teddy is like Helena’s Short Round,” says Isidore. “Then this old, grumpy man who he doesn’t know anything about comes into their life and starts to run the show. It’s really annoying for Teddy, and at first, he hates Indiana Jones.” The young actor imagined a stepfather and stepson kind of relationship to aid in his grasp of the characters’ dynamics. “Teddy has to accept the fact that this guy is now a part of his life. Both of them have their own ideas and don’t let others tell them what to do or how to act. Both of them think they know everything about life. One is younger and the other is older. It’s a common relationship you can find in everyone’s lives.”
Relationships of every kind are central to the Indiana Jones stories, from a classic like Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) to a brand new adventure like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Indy himself is nothing without his friends and family. The connections that the archaeologist forms with others is essential, at first pragmatically in the sense that, without his companions, Indy would’ve certainly perished in many a foiled escapade. But more importantly, these people shape Indy into the hero that he becomes. Without them, he is not the character that we’ve come to love onscreen.
So too has been the power of relationships on the sets of Indiana Jones movies. As Isidore is keen to point out, his time with Harrison Ford on Dial of Destiny was more than a working relationship, but a friendship as well. A generation earlier, Ke Huy Quan was another young actor to receive this kind of personal mentorship from Ford. Unlike Isidore, however, the 12-year-old Quan had no preconceptions about the man he’d be acting with, having never seen any of Ford’s work. When he attended a casting call for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1983), he famously wasn’t even there to audition himself, but rather to chaperone his younger brother, who was going for the part.
“I think it benefited me that I didn’t know who [Harrison Ford, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas] were,” Quan would say in 2023. “To me they were just three grown-ups. And I didn’t think much of it. But what I do remember is that they were just so friendly and kind, and funny, and they were [each] like a kid.” As he described it, Quan’s own innocence at the time allowed him to engage with Ford at face value. “I just loved being around him all the time. Even when we’re not shooting…I just wanted to talk to him and hear him tell me stories.” As did Isidore, Quan enjoyed making practical jokes with the older actor.
“It felt like I’d always wanted to be an actor,” says Isidore, himself born outside of Paris, France after his family had emigrated from the island of Mauritius. “I watched movies just like Indiana Jones – adventure movies, action movies, superhero movies, especially Spider-Man. They made me think that when you’re an actor, you can be whatever you want.” He is adamant that Quan has been a particular inspiration.
“I love the performance that Key Huy Quan gave as Short Round,” Isidore comments. “He’s younger, but in my opinion he’s as big as Indiana Jones, he’s as brave as Indiana Jones. He always wants to be his sidekick, and I love this about this character. It was one of my inspirations to play Teddy. When you know what Ke Huy Quan became now, winning an Oscar for Everything Everywhere all at Once, it’s really inspiring. I would love to follow in his footsteps.”
Isidore remarks that “what’s amazing about Harrison Ford is that he speaks with everyone the same way. Something admirable, in my opinion, is that he didn’t want people to call him Mr. Ford. He wanted people to call him Harrison, or Harry. To him, he was like everyone else. I really admired this. He talked to my family the same way he talked to the crew or the actors. My little brother, Lennie, and him were like best friends on the set. They’d kid around. Harrison and Phoebe even went down to the swimming pool with my family while they were rehearsing the underwater scene. They let my brother try on the mask to breathe underwater.” (Ironically, Ford had also given the young Quan swimming lessons while on location for Temple of Doom.)
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