Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’s Harrison Ford and Phoebe Waller-Bridge Explain Their Onscreen Chemistry (Exclusive)

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is hitting theaters later this month and it is set to star Harrison Ford as the titular hero. The new film will also feature an exciting line-up of new additions, including Fleabag star Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Helena Shaw, Indy’s goddaughter. This week, ComicBook.com had the chance to chat with Ford and Waller-Bridge and we asked about how they created their onscreen chemistry. 

“Well, we’ve both been written characters that are in contest, so banter for the sake of itself is often not so satisfying,” Ford explained. “But these are all it’s full of story. I mean, the relationship is characterized by the story that we’re involved in, the quest that we’re on, and by her personality disorder,” he joked. “But also by the wit of our screenwriters. And we’re lucky to have characters written that have a real contest. It’s not just bitchy talk, there’s some real substance between these things.” 

Waller-Bridge joked back, “Whereas in real life, it’s just bitchy talk between the two of us. That’s all it is.”

Harrison Ford on De-Ageing Indiana Jones: 

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is expected to feature a de-aged Harrison Ford in the opening sequence. When the trailer for the fifth movie was released, fans were pleasantly surprised by how good the de-aging looked. During a recent interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Ford explained how they de-aged him for the film.

“That is my actual face. At that age,” Ford shared. “They have this artificial intelligence program. It can go through every foot of film Lucasfilm owns, because I did a bunch of movies for them. They have all this footage, including film that wasn’t printed … They could mine it from where the light is coming from, the expression. But that’s my actual face. I put little dots on my face and I say the words and they make it. It’s fantastic.”

“My hope is that, although it will be talked about in terms of technology, you just watch it and go, ‘Oh my God, they just found footage. This was a thing they shot 40 years ago,’” Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy previously told Empire. “We’re dropping you into an adventure, something Indy is looking for, and instantly you have that feeling, ‘I’m in an Indiana Jones movie.’” 

What Is Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny About?

The iconic Harrison Ford returns for one last adventure when Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny premieres in theaters on June 30th. Lucasfilm’s latest film in the long-running franchise sees Dr. Jones team up with his goddaughter Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) in a race against nefarious forces to secure a powerful artifact. The duo will go up against the mysterious former Nazi-turned-NASA scientist Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), and the film also features stars Boyd Holbrook, Antonio Banderas, Toby Jones, and John Rhys Davies. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is directed by James Mangold and is set to be Ford’s final appearance as the iconic archeologist.

Stay tuned for more from our interview with Harrison Ford and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.