Harrison Ford knows how weird his life is

Summary

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Wild Card with Rachel Martin

Episode: "Harrison Ford knows how weird his life is"

Date: August 21, 2025
Guest: Harrison Ford
Host: Rachel Martin (NPR)

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Overview

In this candid and playful episode of "Wild Card," Rachel Martin sits down with legendary actor Harrison Ford, now 83, to probe life’s meaning, regrets, and joys through the podcast’s signature deck of wild questions. Ford reflects on his storied career, recent Emmy nomination, odd experiences, and the nature of love, aging, and ambition. The episode is laced with salty humor, vulnerability, and Ford’s unmistakable gruff-yet-warm demeanor.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Ambition, Fame, and Early Days

[00:22, 14:32]

• Rachel probes Ford’s motivations and whether ambition ever “led him astray.”
  • “Don’t think so. I’m trying to think of what my ambition is. Yeah, it wasn’t the fame and fortune. It was the work. It’s still the thing that is most fun, the making of this stuff. It’s an incredible freedom.” — Harrison Ford [00:27]
• Ford reveals humble beginnings and late entry into acting:
  • Attended art classes in Chicago as a child, discovered acting late in college while searching for an easy grade.
  • Was kicked out of college four days before graduation despite being first in his family to attend.
• On forging his own path and ignoring advice:
  • “Every single piece of advice I ever got.” — Harrison Ford, jokingly [03:48]
  • “Don’t imitate somebody else’s way of getting there... it would be nice if you would find your own path.” — Harrison Ford [04:18]

2. Finding Beauty and Order in Life

[02:12, 03:13]

• Ford recalls early experiences with beauty through art in Chicago, appreciation for order, balance, and the complexity of nature.
  • “I see beauty in many, many banal things... the order of nature, the mystery, the complexity. That, to me, is beautiful.” — Harrison Ford [03:13]

3. Career Longevity & New Ventures

[08:19, 12:21]

• Ford discusses his Emmy-nominated role on “Shrinking” and other recent demanding projects.
  • “I actually like to work and I'm kind of a pain in the ass when I'm not working.” — Harrison Ford [12:10]
  • Prefers jobs that allow him to stay close to home and family now, rather than globe-trotting.
  • Chooses roles “based on feeling more than anything else.” Signed onto “Shrinking” after reading the pilot once, skipping deliberation.

4. The Weirdness of Being Harrison Ford

[16:15, 16:38]

• Candidly acknowledges the oddity of fame and being “an icon.”
  • “That's weird. Do you realize how weird that is?” — Harrison Ford [16:31]
  • “It is a very weird life. But it's kind of. It's funny.” — Harrison Ford [16:38]
• Discusses his drive to understand human behavior—“why people behave that way” is central to his acting.

5. Emotional Landscape: Guilt, Love, Aging, and Mortality

Guilt

[18:34]

• What emotion does Ford understand best?
  • “Guilt. Period. Exclamation, exclamation point.” — Harrison Ford [18:40]
  • Explains it’s tied to commonplace failures, mostly relationships.

Love & Relationships

[20:16, 21:45]

• On what age teaches about love:
  • “Old people can love too... And staying in love is the issue.” — Harrison Ford [20:21]
  • “Maintaining, nurturing, basically. Not fucking up.” — Harrison Ford [20:45]
• Multiple marriages; speaks lovingly of his 20+ year partnership with Calista Flockhart.
  • “I love being in love.” — Harrison Ford [21:35]

Mortality & Nature

[23:57, 25:12]

• Ford thinks more about others dying than himself; not fearful of death, sees it as a part of nature.
  • “Everything around us is dying as well....I accept nature wholeheartedly. Nature is my—my whole belief system is based on nature, basically.” — Harrison Ford [24:41]
  • “You’re supposed to die when you’re supposed to die.” — Harrison Ford [25:05]

Living a Good Life

[25:35, 27:08]

• Ford is self-deprecating, admits to “not working as hard at some things” and “not as good a parent as I should have been.”
• Refers to his life as “10 lives”—attributes his path to curiosity and desire to “investigate the lives and the motivations of a bunch of different people.”
  • “I can’t believe how lucky I’ve been.” — Harrison Ford [26:25]

6. God, Nature, and What Feels Like Prayer

[28:16–29:56]

• Rachel answers Ford’s flipped question (“Is there anything in your life that feels like praying?”) by saying helping others and deep connection feels like prayer.
• Ford: “My prayers are to nature...my God was nature. And all of the things that are ascribed to a deity, I think nature qualifies.” — Harrison Ford [28:56–29:56]

7. Memorable Anecdote: Jay Leno & The 3D-Printed Toilet Seat

[31:08–34:39]

• Harrison gets sidetracked (purposefully, comically) from discussing a cherished memory by recounting an elaborate quest for a replacement toilet seat for his Wyoming home.
  • Jay Leno, with his penchant for machines, agrees to 3D print a custom seat for Ford.
  • “It’s really hard to make that kind of call. ‘Hey, Jay Leno...I want you to print a 3D toilet seat for me.’”
• Rachel playfully calls out Ford for dodging the memory question.

8. A Cherished Childhood Memory

[34:48–35:19]

• Eventually, Ford names his earliest memory:
  • “It’s the day my aunt walked into my—I was in a crib in Chicago...my aunt walked in and said, ‘you have a brother.’ Probably my earliest memory. And I don't know why I chose that. It's just what came to mind.” — Harrison Ford [34:48–35:19]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On refusing to take advice:
  “Every single piece of advice I ever got.” — Harrison Ford [03:48]
• On acting’s appeal:
  “It's almost unhinging. But I never had the ambition to be...some big star or something. I wanted to be successful enough to have access to the good stuff.” — Harrison Ford [15:03]
• On emotional fluency:
  “Guilt. Period. Exclamation, exclamation point.” — Harrison Ford [18:40]
• On lasting love:
  “Old people can love too...maintaining, nurturing, basically. Not fucking up.” — Harrison Ford [20:21, 20:45]
• On what feels like prayer:
  “My prayers are to nature...That’s my God is nature. For what it’s worth.” — Harrison Ford [28:56]
• On his wildest memory & Jay Leno’s toilet seat rescue:
  “Jay’s printing a 3D printed toilet seat for me.” — Harrison Ford [31:28]

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Important Segments (Timestamps)

• Ambition and Motivation: [00:22], [14:32]
• Early Experiences with Beauty: [02:12], [03:13]
• Ignoring Advice and Path to Acting: [03:44–06:13]
• On “Shrinking” and Late Career: [08:19–14:19]
• The Strangeness of Fame: [16:15–17:01]
• Guilt & Emotional Intelligence: [18:34–19:41]
• Love, Marriage, and Growing Old: [20:16–21:49]
• Thoughts on Death and Nature: [23:57–25:12]
• Living a Good Life: [25:35–27:08]
• Nature as God and Prayer: [28:16–29:56]
• Jay Leno Toilet Seat Story: [31:08–34:39]
• Cherished Childhood Memory: [34:48–35:19]

---

Tone & Language

The conversation is witty, ironic, yet open and intimate. Ford’s gruffness is softened with humor, humility, and warm candor, while Rachel Martin’s curiosity and gentle prodding draw out reflective, frequently self-deprecating replies.

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Summary

This episode is a compelling listen for anyone interested in the inner life of a cultural icon who’s as curious about the oddness of his own path as those who admire him from afar. From philosophical musings on nature and prayer to the joys and failings of love, from the perils of plumbing to the luck of a “ten-lives” career, Harrison Ford’s personality is on full, unvarnished display—salty language and all.

---

Transcript

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[Rachel Martin]

Hey, it's Rachel. Just a heads up. Harrison Ford is sort of a salty dude. And there's a little bit of salty.

Language in this episode. Has ambition ever led you astray?

[Harrison Ford]

Don't think so. I'm trying to think of what my ambition is. Yeah, it wasn't the fame and fortune. It was the work. It's still the thing that is most fun, the making of this stuff. It's an incredible freedom.

[Rachel Martin]

I'm Rachel Martin, and this is Wild Card, the game where cards control the conversation. Each week, my guest answers questions about their life. Questions pulled from a deck of cards. They're allowed to skip one question and to flip one question back on me. My guest this week is Harrison Ford.

[Harrison Ford]

I've lived, like, 10 lives. I mean, I can't believe how lucky I've been.

[Rachel Martin]

Harrison Ford was never in it for the fame. He was in it for the work. The act of telling stories and movies that would connect with people and connect they have. From Han Solo to Indiana Jones, he has brought to life some of the most important film characters in American culture. At this point, he's more than a movie star.

He's an icon.

At 83, he could just live out the rest of his days on his ranch in Wyoming and no one would blame him. But he still finds purpose in the work. And in doing so, he just earned himself his first Emmy nomination for his role in the hit show Shrinking on Apple tv. I am so happy to welcome Harrison Ford to Wildcard. Hi.

Thank you so much for being here.

[Harrison Ford]

Thank you for asking me to do this. Whatever this is.

[Rachel Martin]

I know you're going to find out.

[Harrison Ford]

Okay.

[Rachel Martin]

All right, here we go.

[Harrison Ford]

Let's go.

[Rachel Martin]

Let's go. One, two or three? Two, two. What's an experience early in life that made you appreciate beauty? Ooh.

[Harrison Ford]

Okay. I think I may not have known what beauty was because nobody said, isn't that beautiful? Admire that. But I think I'd learned. When I was very young, I lived in Chicago. We went to the art museum in Chicago. So I saw a range of art over the years and a variety of different expressions. Artistic interest. And I went to art classes there. I think that I really am. I like a certain kind of order and balance. And I see beauty in many, many banal things.

[Rachel Martin]

Yeah, that's a nice way to live.

[Harrison Ford]

I see beauty in nature not just in terms of the stuff you look at, but the order of nature, the mystery, the complexity. That, to me, is beautiful.

[Rachel Martin]

Thank you for that.

[Harrison Ford]

You're welcome.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Three more.

[Rachel Martin]

One, two, three.

[Harrison Ford]

One.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Mm.

[Rachel Martin]

What's a piece of advice? You were smart to ignore.

[Harrison Ford]

Every single piece of advice I ever got.

[Rachel Martin]

No one ever gave you good advice.

[Harrison Ford]

I don't know if I got a lot of advice.

[Rachel Martin]

Really?

[Harrison Ford]

No. Maybe because I didn't look like. Like I was interested. But when people ask me for advice, and strangely, occasionally people do.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Rachel Martin]

I imagine.

[Harrison Ford]

The only thing I can say is whatever it is you want to do. Don't imitate somebody else's way of getting there. Don't try and imitate somebody else's success. You've got to find your own. It would be nice if you would find your own path.

[Rachel Martin]

How did you have that instinct so early, though?

[Harrison Ford]

I was belligerent.

[Rachel Martin]

Really?

[Harrison Ford]

Yeah. And ignorant at the same time.

[Rachel Martin]

That's a good combo. So you didn't charm your way through the doors of Hollywood executives?

[Harrison Ford]

Decidedly not. The doors did not fly off the hinges when I appeared.

[Rachel Martin]

But something was working.

[Harrison Ford]

It was a very strange thing that happened. One, I really didn't go to movies very much. Two, I didn't know why I wanted to be an actor and why I thought I could be an actor. But I discovered acting very late in my college career because I was looking for a class that I could take and get a good grade in because I was a philosophy and English major and I never went to class.

[Rachel Martin]

So you didn't have very good grades?

[Harrison Ford]

I imagine I had terrible grades. And I was hanging on by the skin of my teeth. I got thrown out of school four days before graduation. Graduation, college. The first one in my family to ever have achieved the possibility of going to college and graduating.

[Rachel Martin]

And you blew it within four days.

[Harrison Ford]

Four days before graduation, I was asked to go away and not come back.

[Rachel Martin]

So the plan to get a good grade in the drama class didn't save you from getting kicked out of college?

[Harrison Ford]

You know, that's the first time I thought about that. It didn't. It didn't.

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[Rachel Martin]

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I'm gonna pull back from the game for a minute. I know, I know you're just getting rolling, but I wanna talk more explicitly about shrinking.

[Harrison Ford]

That's nice. Yes, please.

[Rachel Martin]

And congratulations, by the way.

[Harrison Ford]

Thank you.

[Rachel Martin]

Because you have been nominated for an Emmy for your role in this TV show.

[Harrison Ford]

It's very nice.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Harrison Ford]

I don't know how it happens or why, except the show is very good.

[Rachel Martin]

Good writers, good.

[Harrison Ford]

A lot of very talented people working hard to make something that is both meaningful and entertaining.

[Rachel Martin]

Does this guy feel like you, Dr. Paul Rhodes, who you play in the show?

[Harrison Ford]

I think when you're doing this kind of a show, the closer you live to who you are, you know, the better everybody is. You don't want to put on too much of a character facade between you and the audience. I think in this kind of thing.

[Rachel Martin]

And Dr. Paul Rhodes, for you, felt closer than other characters.

[Harrison Ford]

He feels disposition wise. I feel a kinship to him. I don't agree with. Everything comes out of his mouth.

[Rachel Martin]

You know, he's reassessing life, relationships. He's at a certain age where he's doing that retrospective well.

[Harrison Ford]

And it is in the context of approaching complications from his Parkinson's disease.

[Rachel Martin]

Do you research that? Do you know people who have it? How did that inform how you approach it?

[Harrison Ford]

It informed me emotionally about how important it is not to trivialize the disease and yet not to be dominated by it in the context of this imaginary story or to try not to be dominated by it. But we have wonderful examples of people who have lived well and lived fully while having the disease. Michael J. Fox, for one, who is figured, loomed large in Bill Lawrence's our producer's life and Bill has other relatives, I believe, that have Parkinson's. I know people that have Parkinson's who are close to me.

[Rachel Martin]

And life can go on with it.

[Harrison Ford]

Life does go on, albeit conditioned by the disease.

[Rachel Martin]

So you just turned 83. At 83, I don't imagine that. I mean, this is just me, but I'm going to be tired. I'm going to be tired and I might want to work a little bit less. That is not what you are doing. In fact, I mean, really, the last few years, because you were doing the show with Hill and Mirren, the Yellowstone prequel, which was demanding work. I imagine shooting on location in Montana and shrinking on Apple.

[Harrison Ford]

Don't throw in any.

[Rachel Martin]

Just those two.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Rachel Martin]

That's your preferred pace.

[Harrison Ford]

Yeah, I actually like to work and I'm kind of a pain in the ass when I'm not working.

[Rachel Martin]

So that's the setting that makes you happier.

[Harrison Ford]

Yeah.

[Rachel Martin]

Is the working.

[Harrison Ford]

What I really love is. Is being able to work where I live. Not have to go away from home and my family, friends.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Harrison Ford]

For years and years. It was great to be traveling the world making big ass movies and.

[Rachel Martin]

Sounds cool.

[Harrison Ford]

But I went all these interesting places and then went right home, you know, it was not like it's not that fulfilling. And I'm.

[Rachel Martin]

You're still in hotels, you're still on airplanes.

[Harrison Ford]

I like my family. I like my house. I like to be home. And I can be home and do this great. Have this great job. I love what we're able to do, what we get to do.

[Rachel Martin]

You pick projects now based on the people you get to work with or are you still looking for something that opens a new door for you creatively?

[Harrison Ford]

I don't know what I'm looking for.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Harrison Ford]

I do things based on feeling more than anything else. And not really deep feelings, just. I read the pilot of Shrinking one time.

[Rachel Martin]

What was the feeling that came out after you read it?

[Harrison Ford]

Let's get to work. Yeah. I was doing an Indiana Jones movie and Brett Goldstein sent me the script and then he came to meet me to find out if I was interested or talk me into it or something like that. Yeah. I opened the door, I said, hi. You're Brett. Yeah, hi. Nice to see you. I'll do it.

[Rachel Martin]

Didn't even have a coffee. No need.

[Harrison Ford]

No. But we did have a few scotches after that.

[Rachel Martin]

I'm sure he was elated to share scotches.

[Harrison Ford]

I was. I just. It just sounded like fun.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Harrison Ford]

Then I got the jokes and I liked them.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Rachel Martin]

You want to play more game? Please let's do it. Insights. Harrison Ford.

3.

3. Has ambition ever led you astray?

[Harrison Ford]

Don't know. Don't know. Don't think so. Because I'm trying to think of what my ambition is.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Rachel Martin]

Or what was it when you were.

[Harrison Ford]

When was it to make a living as an actor? Yeah, to make a living as an actor. That means. What it means is. Same thing to be a plumber. That's the work I wanted to do.

[Rachel Martin]

This is the trade.

[Harrison Ford]

I wasn't the, you know, fame and fortune. It was the work, which is really. I still. I mean, it's still the thing that I. That is most fun, the making of this stuff with other people that are making stuff. And it's just. It's an incredible freedom to spend your life doing what I get to do. It's almost unhinging. But I never had the ambition to be, you know, whatever, some big star or something. I wanted to be successful enough to have access to the good stuff.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Harrison Ford]

That's all I wanted.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Rachel Martin]

Those two come in parallel, though. Like, it's hard to get that. It's hard to get the good scripts and the good directors and the good colleagues and stay unfamous. Unfamous and unbothered by all the, you know, trappings of fame. Which I imagine would have been your.

[Harrison Ford]

Preference to avoid the trappings of fame. No, I'm just. Look, people are nice to me because of the work that they've seen me do. You're into that part in which I'm part of. Yeah.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Harrison Ford]

That's weird. Do you realize how weird that is?

[Rachel Martin]

I do. I think it would be a weird life, to be honest.

[Harrison Ford]

It is a very weird life.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Harrison Ford]

But it's kind of. It's funny.

[Rachel Martin]

Yeah. If you can get outside of yourself and, like, look at it.

[Harrison Ford]

The reason I'm an actor is because I never was myself. You're familiar with that concept? I suppose I am. Yeah. Because that's how we end up here in these bizarre and singular professions.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Rachel Martin]

Because you're outside of yourself, observing things all the time.

[Harrison Ford]

Yes. And so I was led into an interest in why people. I'm going to use the word behaved instead of acted like they did. Why do people behave that way? What's going on in that man's head? Is that interesting?

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Rachel Martin]

You just got to study human behavior for a lifetime. Hopefully make some good stories out of it.

[Harrison Ford]

Well, good stories have come my way. I've been very lucky. When I was most active, it was really was the height of the movie business.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Rachel Martin]

What are we talking about? Like, 80s?

[Harrison Ford]

Yeah, yeah, late 70s. 80s. And the guys that were working. I mean, there were the new guys, you know, the Coppolas and the Lucases and the Spielbergs.

[Rachel Martin]

Those are the new guys.

[Harrison Ford]

Yeah, but there were. The old guys were still working too. The Pollocks and the Pulas and the. And Mike Nichols.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Harrison Ford]

Jeez.

[Rachel Martin]

Who you got to work with?

[Harrison Ford]

I mean, that. I got dose of both of them. I'm a really lucky guy.

[Rachel Martin]

Three more cards, Harrison Ford. One, two, three.

[Harrison Ford]

M. Let's go back to one.

[Interviewer/Producer]

One, one.

[Rachel Martin]

What emotion do you understand better than all the others?

[Harrison Ford]

Guilt.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Rachel Martin]

I'm.

Period.

Guilt.

[Harrison Ford]

Period, Exclamation, exclamation point.

[Rachel Martin]

Well, I mean, come on.

[Harrison Ford]

No, no, no, no. You gotta give me more world class guilt. Just, you know, pedestrian. Common guilt. Common. Pedestrian. You're gonna give me an example, run of the mill.

[Rachel Martin]

No, no.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Okay.

[Rachel Martin]

Is it something you've made peace with or is it still sort of a nagging thing? The guilt?

[Harrison Ford]

No, it's failures that cannot be attended to. I don't think they're all that interesting, but they're just failures of relationships and, you know, all the common feelings.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Rachel Martin]

Last one in this round. 1, 2, 3.

[Harrison Ford]

In this round.

[Rachel Martin]

Yeah, man, we got hold.

[Harrison Ford]

Okay, okay, okay. Two, two.

[Rachel Martin]

What do you find most difficult to model for the children in your life?

[Harrison Ford]

Sobriety.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Harrison Ford]

Not trying real hard. Come on, move on, ladies.

[Rachel Martin]

Let's skip it.

I'm gonna ask another one.

Dealer's choice here.

What does age teach you about love?

[Harrison Ford]

Oh, old people can love too.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Harrison Ford]

You think about falling in love and all of that business, you think it's the business of youth or something? You know, it's not. And staying in love is. Is the issue?

[Rachel Martin]

Yes.

[Harrison Ford]

Maintaining, nurturing, basically. Not fucking up.

[Rachel Martin]

We all who are in love or in relationships work on that every day.

[Harrison Ford]

With some days off for bad behavior.

[Rachel Martin]

How long have you been married?

[Harrison Ford]

All of my life. Mostly I was married for the first time at 23 years of age, which should be illegal. You're very young.

[Rachel Martin]

You had your first kid very young.

[Harrison Ford]

And I had my first child very young. And things turned out all right for everybody.

[Rachel Martin]

But getting married again is an act of optimism. So you clearly were not soured on the institution itself.

[Harrison Ford]

No, no, no. I'm just like everybody else. I love being in love.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Harrison Ford]

Yeah.

[Rachel Martin]

But you and Calista have been together for over 20 years now, no?

[Harrison Ford]

Oh, yeah.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Harrison Ford]

Yes.

[Rachel Martin]

Congratulations.

[Harrison Ford]

Thank you.

[Rachel Martin]

I think that's a thing worthy to celebrate.

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[Rachel Martin]

Okay. Beliefs 1. 2 or 3?

[Harrison Ford]

3. 3.

[Rachel Martin]

How often do you think about death?

[Harrison Ford]

I think about. I really think about other people's dying.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Rachel Martin]

I think that also counts.

[Harrison Ford]

So far I have not developed a fear of it. I mean, that I have the appropriate, I think, fear of being involved in an accident.

[Rachel Martin]

You've had some experience with that in the flying machines.

[Harrison Ford]

Yes, I have. But the actual business of dying, everything around us is dying as well.

[Rachel Martin]

Yeah.

[Harrison Ford]

And it just. It's part of nature. And I accept nature wholeheartedly. Nature is my. My whole belief system is based on nature, basically.

[Rachel Martin]

So it's just part of what you're supposed to do. The dying. Yep, the dying.

[Harrison Ford]

And you're supposed to die when you're supposed to die.

[Rachel Martin]

And you're good with that?

[Harrison Ford]

Yeah.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Harrison Ford]

Yeah, I am. And that's not because I'm tired of living. It's just that you gotta make room for other people.

[Rachel Martin]

Three more cards. One, two.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Three.

[Rachel Martin]

You're almost done.

[Harrison Ford]

One.

[Rachel Martin]

What does it mean to live a good life?

[Harrison Ford]

You're asking. You're asking the wrong guy.

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Why?

[Harrison Ford]

Because Because I know I've been naughty.

[Rachel Martin]

What does that mean? You stole a cookie?

[Interviewer/Producer]

Like I don't.

[Harrison Ford]

No. I didn't work as hard at some things as I should have. I've not been as good a parent as I should have been. That kind of stuff.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Harrison Ford]

Normal.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Rachel Martin]

But when you think about what you would, I guess, aspire to have happened to you in a lifetime.

[Harrison Ford]

Oh shit. I've lived like 10 lives. I mean, I can't believe how lucky I've been.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Harrison Ford]

And what I. And part of it was I really do remember thinking about wanting to be an actor in terms of wanting to know, Wanting to live many lives. I wanted to investigate the lives and the motivations of a bunch of different people so I didn't have to sit around thinking about myself all the time.

[Rachel Martin]

Uh huh.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah, I get that. So you got to do that.

[Harrison Ford]

I got to do it.

[Rachel Martin]

So you got to do what you wanted to do in this life.

[Harrison Ford]

I did.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Rachel Martin]

Not all of us can say that.

[Harrison Ford]

Yeah.

[Rachel Martin]

It's a big deal.

[Harrison Ford]

And I apologize.

[Interviewer/Producer]

To who?

[Harrison Ford]

Anybody that didn't get to do what I'm doing. No, I, I mean, I really have been blessed.

[Rachel Martin]

Do you use that word facetiously or you mean it?

[Harrison Ford]

No, no, I usually I use it. You know, it feels like you really have gotten more than you should in a way.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Harrison Ford]

It's just not fair.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Harrison Ford]

Last one.

[Interviewer/Producer]

One.

[Rachel Martin]

Two. Three.

[Harrison Ford]

Three. Eh, you answered.

[Rachel Martin]

Oh, you're flipping this one.

You don't even know what it is.

Oh, preemptive flip.

[Harrison Ford]

First time for everything.

[Rachel Martin]

First yammy nomination.

[Advertisement Voice]

Oh yeah, you were giving me.

[Harrison Ford]

Right. I get to.

[Rachel Martin]

Oh, you're gonna.

[Harrison Ford]

Oh, make shit up.

[Rachel Martin]

Can you read my handwriting?

[Harrison Ford]

Is there anything in your life that feels like praying?

[Rachel Martin]

Here's my answer. I think things that feel like prayer are when I can help another human, when I can get out of the stuff circling in my brain and look outside of my own problems and connect to another human being. And not to give you a big head, but like this, this stuff feels like a prayer to me.

[Harrison Ford]

Yeah, I feel that way. I feel like thinking about. And I don't think that much about other people. Actually. My prayers are to nature. Seems that the cure for all of the things that beset us would be set straight by following the example of nature. And so prayers are usually directed to a God. You know, when I've been asked to consider who my God is, as I was asked by my draft board back in the Vietnam War, I said that my God was nature. And all of the Things that are ascribed to a deity. I think that nature qualifies in all of the categories that God has been given credit for. That's my God is nature. For what it's worth.

[Rachel Martin]

We end the show the same way every time. Stop rolling your eyes.

[Harrison Ford]

No, no good.

[Rachel Martin]

This is how we do it. It's a trip in our memory time machine. Okay.

[Harrison Ford]

Gotta close my eyes now.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Okay.

[Rachel Martin]

In the memory time machine. Harrison Ford, you pick one moment from your past that you would like to revisit. You would not change anything about this moment. It's just a moment you'd like to linger in a little longer. Which moment do you choose?

[Harrison Ford]

Do people actually answer that question?

[Rachel Martin]

Even Brett Goldstein? Every time.

[Harrison Ford]

My phone just rang.

[Rachel Martin]

No, it didn't.

[Harrison Ford]

It did.

[Rachel Martin]

It didn't.

[Harrison Ford]

It's in my back pocket. It's ringing.

[Rachel Martin]

It's not ringing.

[Interviewer/Producer]

It is.

[Rachel Martin]

It is ringing.

[Harrison Ford]

Yes. It's shaking my butt.

[Rachel Martin]

It's God nature telling you that. You need to come up with one moment. Jay Leno is calling you right now.

[Harrison Ford]

About my toilet seat.

[Rachel Martin]

What?

[Harrison Ford]

Yeah. Jay's printing a 3D printed toilet seat for me.

[Rachel Martin]

What is even happening right now? Why is he bringing a toilet seat for you? Is your.

[Harrison Ford]

Because I asked him.

[Rachel Martin]

Okay.

[Harrison Ford]

Because I hadn't seen him in 12 years, since he quit the show, since he left his show. But I remember that he's got Jay's garage.

[Rachel Martin]

Yeah. He has a lot of cars.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Harrison Ford]

So Jay's like. He is incredibly invested in.

[Rachel Martin]

Invested. Yes.

[Harrison Ford]

In machinery. And Jay Leno has Edison's steam engine that was used to light the two square blocks at the World's Fair when electricity was first. He's into machines anyway, so he's got these 3D printers, and I had this toilet seat from a toilet that is not in production anymore.

[Rachel Martin]

Okay.

[Harrison Ford]

And the toilet seat has discolored in a way that is really unattractive.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Harrison Ford]

I have been on do not want.

[Rachel Martin]

A discolored toilet seat.

No.

[Harrison Ford]

So this is in Wyoming. I can't find the toilet seat anywhere. I couldn't. I tried for years, and friends in the plumbing industry helped try me to try and get those. Can't get the sea.

[Rachel Martin]

Can't get it.

[Harrison Ford]

And I'm just sitting around one day, like, last week, saying, where the hell am I? Can I 3D print this? Ah, Jay Leno. I remembered seeing this stuff at Jay. The first time I ever heard about 3D printing was Jay at Jay's garage when he showed me around it, like, 20, maybe 15 years ago.

[Rachel Martin]

So you figured he's the man for the job.

[Harrison Ford]

It's really hard to make that kind of call. Hey, Jay Leno. It's me, Harrison Ford. You know, from Floor, when you have, like 15 years ago or something, and I just wonder, what do you want? I want you to print a 3D toilet safe for me.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Yeah.

[Rachel Martin]

He said yes.

[Harrison Ford]

Presumably he embraced the project.

[Rachel Martin]

Yes.

[Harrison Ford]

In a way that I thought I'd never could have imagined. People appeared from the depths, out of the shadows, and they got involved in it.

[Rachel Martin]

Is it usable?

Can one use a 3D printed toilet seat? Or is it just for aesthetics?

[Harrison Ford]

No, this is going to be the.

[Rachel Martin]

You're going to sit on it.

[Harrison Ford]

Okay. In my office. Well, there's not a toilet in my office.

[Rachel Martin]

I understand.

[Harrison Ford]

It's in a small room adjacent.

[Interviewer/Producer]

Right.

[Rachel Martin]

There's a door. It's not just sitting there in your office.

[Harrison Ford]

It would have been if.

[Rachel Martin]

Anyway, you know, you've told me this whole interesting story as a way to divert.

[Harrison Ford]

You know that I know that I know.

[Rachel Martin]

We're back.

[Interviewer/Producer]

One moment.

[Rachel Martin]

Don't want to change anything. Could be good, bad.

[Harrison Ford]

Oh, yeah. Okay. I got it.

[Rachel Martin]

Okay.

[Harrison Ford]

It's the day my aunt walked into my. I was in a crib in Chicago, and you're doing this to me. My aunt walked in and said, you have a brother. Probably my earliest memory. And I don't know why I chose that. It's just what came to mind.

[Rachel Martin]

Is that right?

[Harrison Ford]

Which is what it should be.

[Rachel Martin]

That's right.

[Harrison Ford]

Okay.

[Rachel Martin]

The end.

[Harrison Ford]

Call Jay back.

[Rachel Martin]

You got no. I hope your toilet gets fixed, Jay.

Harrison Ford is nominated for an Emmy for his role in Shrinking Apple. Thank you so much for being here.

[Harrison Ford]

Thank you.

[Rachel Martin]

If you like that conversation, I highly recommend going back and listening to the episode that we did with Harrison Ford's collaborator on shrinking, Brett Goldstein. Brett's another guy with a gruff exterior who was, to be honest, a smidge uncomfortable playing the game. But then he stepped up and gave me these really forthcoming and beautiful answers. This episode was produced by Summer Tamad and edited by Dave Blanchard. It was mastered by Robert Rodriguez. Wildcard's executive producer is Yolanda Sangweni. And our theme music is by Ramtin arablouei. We love to hear what you think of the show, so write [e-mail] we're going to shuffle the deck and be back with more next week.

[Interviewer/Producer]

I'll talk to you then.

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What makes a great pair of glasses at Warby Parker? It's all the invisible extras without the extra cost, like free Adjustments for Life. Find your [e-mail] or visit one of their hundreds of stores around the country.