Harrison Ford may be synonymous with Indiana Jones today, but according to director Steven Spielberg, the role in his film franchise was originally destined for another ’80s icon: Tom Selleck.
During a recent appearance on the “IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson” podcast, Spielberg revealed that he and co-creator George Lucas initially selected Selleck to lead 1981’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark” before circumstances forced a change.
“He came in, and he read for the part. He was good,” Spielberg said of Selleck. “His test was good. I loved it.”
“But that’s where the strings of destiny didn’t cross with Tom,” he continued. “We wanted Tom. We gave Tom the part, and then he had, which we didn’t realize, an outstanding contract with CBS network to do ‘Magnum P.I.’”
Selleck went on to star as the titular private investigator in “Magnum P.I.” throughout the show’s eight-season run from 1980 to 1988. But in his 2024 memoir, “You Never Know,” the actor opened up about reading for the part of Indiana Jones as he awaited the fate of his pilot.
“When I walked into the room for the audition, it was just those two guys: Steven Spielberg and George Lucas,” he wrote, per People. “I didn’t feel particularly nervous. I was a big ‘Star Wars’ fan, so I’m certain I brought that up. On my drive home, I thought, ‘Boy, that was pretty cool, no pressure, and having a face-to-face with two people whose work I love.’ And what a great diversion it was from my preoccupation with the outcome of my pilot.”
Although Selleck was enthusiastic about the first “Indiana Jones” script, he ultimately had to pass on the opportunity because his crime drama had already been picked up by CBS and was preparing to start shooting.
“When they heard we wanted Tom, they immediately put ‘Magnum P.I.’ into production, preempting Tom from being in ‘Indiana Jones,’” Spielberg explained on the “IMO” podcast.
As many know, the role eventually went to Ford after Spielberg, in a twist of fate, saw him in 1980′s “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.”
“I pulled George [Lucas] aside, and I said, ‘George, what about that guy who plays Han Solo to play Indiana Jones?’” the filmmaker recalled on the podcast. “And George looked at me funny and said, ‘Well, but he’s Han Solo.’”
Spielberg continued: ”‘Yeah,’ I said, ‘I know, but, you know, John Wayne might have been in the same Western forever, but he played different characters.’ I said, ’You know, he could do more than one role. And George said, ‘OK.’”
Had Selleck been cast as Indiana Jones, though, Spielberg joked that the actor’s signature mustache likely wouldn’t have made the cut for his franchise.
“Maybe if the films were as successful,” the director teased, “he could have demanded the mustache.”
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