Indiana Jones 5's Mads Mikkelsen Comments on Working With Harrison Ford, "An Insanely Powerful Person"

The long-awaited fifth Indiana Jones movie finally wrapped filming in February, and fans are eager to see Harrison Ford return to the role for the first time since Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was released in 2008. The new movie is being helmed by James Mangold (Logan), who took over from Steven Spielberg. Indiana Jones 5 is also expected to feature Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Solo), Mads Mikkelsen (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), Boyd Holbrook (Logan), Thomas Kretschmann (King Kong), and Shaunette Renée Wilson (The Resident). Recently, Mikkelsen spoke with The Hollywood Reporter to promote his new film, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, and teased that the new Indy movie has an "original feel." During the interview, Mikkelsen also talked about working with Ford. 

"It was the first time I met him, and he's an insanely powerful person," Mikkelsen said when asked about Ford's reported shoulder injury. "Not just as an actor, but physically. I remember the first day we were shooting, it was a night shoot, then we stopped at 5 a.m. – and then he got on his mountain bike and went biking for 50 kilometers [31 miles]. Harrison is a monster of a man, a very nice monster."

"[Raiders of the Lost Ark] was one of my favorite films, and it just oozed that golden period of serials from the 1940s — and that's in the fifth film as well," Mikkelsen recalled. "They're going heavily back to the first and second film and getting that original feel, the original Indy, something dense and epic… It felt like a Spielberg film, though it's obviously James making it with the same vision."

Mikkelsen also spoke with Collider last year about his love for the franchise and his excitement about being in the upcoming film.

"I'm very, very excited about it… I rewatched Raiders of the Lost Ark the other day, it is so well-done and so charming, and it's such great storytelling. So yes it's a great honor to be part of that franchise that I grew up with… I'm in a lucky position where they let me read the script before. And yes, it was everything I wished it to be, so that was just great," Mikkelsen shared.

Indiana Jones 5 is currently scheduled to be released in theatres on June 30, 2023.