Inside Harrison Ford’s eye-watering net worth after movie boss told him ‘you’ll never make it’

Harrison Ford has made millions thanks to his roles in huge Hollywood hits like Star Wars and Indiana Jones.

What few of the 81-year-old actor’s fans may know is that the first George Lucas film in wasn’t to do with lightsabers, because it came in 1973’s American Graffiti. Ford didn’t always have it easy and had a number of uncredited roles before he got his big break as Han Solo the first Star Wars film, back in 1977.

Since then, he has gone on to take home numerous awards, including an Oscar nod for his film Witness (1985) and was even named the 14th greatest movie hero of all time by the American Film Institution. And to cement his status as a sci-fi titan, he played Rick Deckard in Blade Runner (1982) – a role he reprised in 2017 alongside Ryan Gosling.

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Today is Star Wars Day (May 4), so Daily Star has taken a look at how rich Mr Ford really is. And it’s rather impressive.

From struggles to Star Wars

Ford grew up in the heart of Chicago, Illinois as the son of an advertising executive and a stay-a-home mother. After he graduated high school in 1960, he went on to study English and Philosophy at Ripon College in Wisconsin where he discovered an interest in acting by accident.

During his studies he signed up for a drama course with the hopes of an easy high grade as he confessed to People magazine in 1997: “I was terrified to get up in front of people, but I really enjoyed the storytelling part.”

The actor landed various acting deals in the early days of his career such as Columbia Pictures as a contract player earning $150 a week and Universal in 1966. Here, he made his film debut in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round.

Studios executives were less than impressed with his roles onscreen as he recalled how one studio official told him: “You’ll never make it in this business” during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. He was a struggling young actor working as a carpenter and was literally building cabinets for George Lucas, who decided to cast him in Star Wars.

He became an overnight hit as Han Solo in the first Star Wars film in 1977, where he reportedly made just $10,000 (£7,940) before his salary skyrocketed to $500,000 (£396,840) for the next two sequels He went to reprise the role across four sequels over the next four decades.

He followed it up with roles in the Blade Runner franchise, films like The Fugitive, and also took the lead role as Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Clearly the money was right, because he returned to the Jones franchise four times.

Net worth

Harrison’s net worth is estimated to be a whopping $300million (£25,726,800), according to Celebrity Net Worth. Over the years, the actor has raked in millions from his blockbuster films that have grossed over $9.3 billion (£7.38bn) worldwide.

When he returned as Han in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), it grossed over $2 billion (£1.59bn ) and is the fifth highest-grossing film of all time. His reprisal earned him $15million (£11,91m) as well as a percentage of the film’s profits, totalling around $25 million (£19.84m), meaning he re-enterered the Forbes’ list of the highest-paid actors in 2016.

Perhaps his biggest payday ever came with 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The star earned a mind-blowing $65million (£51.59million) for his time on set after he came out of semi-retirement for the action movie with the film’s earnings split between himself, director Steven Spielberg and franchise creator George Lucas.

The massive payday made Harrison the highest-paid actor on Forbes’ annual Celebrity 100 list back in 2009. He reprised his role as Jones last year with the Dial of Destiny, revealing it would be his last appearance as the character.

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk