10 Movie Roles Harrison Ford Turned Down

by Andrew Pollard

1. Dr. Alan Grant (Jurassic Park)

Whether the fedora hat was coincidental or not, the role of Dr. Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park series was one initially meant for Harrison Ford. In fact, many have said that the role of Grant is to palaeontology what Indiana Jones is to archaeology. Dr. Grant is one of a small group brought in to essentially give the OK on the titular 'park' in Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park, although things quickly go array when the dinosaurs end up escaping. With Ford having turned down the gig, the role of Dr. Grant would instead go to Sam Neill. As well as being a key component of the first film, Neill would again return forJurassic Park III and there's even been talk of Dr. Grant making a return to the franchise in the post-Jurassic World future. Given his past as Indy, it's a role that Ford would've been great in, and he'd have even brought a slightly more charming side to Neill's relatively straight-faced Alan Grant. In fact, many have even pointed to Chris Pratt's Owen Grady in Jurassic World as what Ford could've maybe done with the Dr. Grant character. Considering the other hugely popular franchises that Ford has been a part of, we can just about forgive him for this turning this one down.
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.