Joel Edgerton is making his advertising directorial debut with Glenmorangie Scotch Whisky’s new ad campaign starring Harrison Ford, who plays himself as he travels to Andross Castle in Scotland to film the campaign.
The campaign, titled “Once Upon a Time in Scotland” and consisting of several video spots, plays into Ford’s reputation of being a bit of a curmudgeon. “I’d watched a lot of his interviews, and I realized that true or false, there’s a persona of Harrison’s that is quite gruff and, you know, grumpy, but he’s a bit like an avocado,” Edgerton tells me. “He’s rock solid on the outside but he’s very soft in the middle. He has an emotional softness and a sensitivity and a humanity that he then covers with this sort of prickly outside.”
After insisting on not doing any sort of action movie-like stunts, Ford is seen meditating, riding a bike and sipping whisky in front of a cozy fire. At one point, he even slips into a kilt.
What’s your favorite Harrison Ford movie?
That’s very hard. If you ask 12-year-old Joel, it would be “Indiana Jones.” But as I grew up, I think “The Fugitive” is one of the most excellent thrillers made of all time. He does the empathetic every man. Weirdly, my other obsession in the ’80s were Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. But you never thought those guys wouldn’t get through the mess. You always assume there’s no way they’re going to lose but I love that Harrison made us feel like he didn’t know the answer. He had to work it out, and I think that’s why we all connected with him. I will say Harrison definitely is one of my heroes. There is a photo that exists somewhere of me with a brown, sort of fedora on my head and a brown sort of plastic leather jacket that I found somewhere. And I rubbed dirt on my face to look like stubble. I am aware that you got to be careful about meeting your heroes. I did wonder, “Is Harrison best left as a hero in my mind?” There’s a certain actor in Hollywood who said, “Never meet your heroes unless they’re Harrison Ford” and he was fucking right, man. He was such a legend in person as much as he lives as a legend in my mind.
What was it like meeting him for the first time?
We had lunch. I was with this gang when he got there. While he was shaking my hand, he said, “I heard they want me to ride a horse and fly a plane, and I’m not doing any of that.” I felt good because that’s exactly what the first spot was going to be about — him going, “I don’t want to do what they want me to do.” We hit it off and by the end of the meeting, he was like, “I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”
What was it like telling Harrison Ford to do another take on something?
He was awesome. We shot a lot in three days. We shot a lot of material, like 20 to 30 minutes of him doing things. But I was terrified because most campaigns you shoot are a 60-second spot in two days. We were doing four separate stories each day. I thought I was going to have a heart attack before I even got there. But he was often ready before the camera was ready. He would change in a cupboard if he needed to.
How much whisky was being consumed while you were shooting?
It is important to know your product. We had a couple of amazing tastings with Dr. Bill Lumsden, who creates the whisky. We had a tasting of the full gamut, but we didn’t let it get too much in the way of shooting. It is important to relax at the end of the day, and what a great way to do it. They gifted Harrison, myself and all the crew and team special bottles of whisky. I think Harrison got one of the oldest bottles ever — from the year I was born.
Read the interview in full at the link below. Please drink responsibly!
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