Why did Indiana Jones Harrison Ford only have a beard in one scene?

Indiana Jones is known for his hat and whip, but there’s another aspect of his appearance that some fans take for granted: he never had a beard. Despite his chaotic lifestyle, which makes it plausible for him to go days or weeks without shaving, Indy never practices anything more dangerous than a five o’clock shadow. Even including the final film, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” set during the great beard boom of the late 1960s, Indy has remained clean-shaven… or has he?

In the TV series in the early 1990s”Chronicles of Young Indiana Jones“Harrison Ford stopped by in one episode to play middle-aged Indy. He filmed the episode in the middle of filming his 1993 thriller ‘The Fugitive,’ in which his character sported a natural beard. The result is that there was a brief moment in the ‘Indiana Jones’ series where Indy had a beard, even if it was in a scene that most fans would never see today.”

The episode featuring Bearded Indy is called “Indiana Jones and the Secret of the Blues“, and its scenes are set in the early 1950s. Ford’s next official appearance in the series wouldn’t be until the fourth film, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” which is set in 1957. This means that Indy spends a few years or so in the 1950s experimenting with his facial hair before reverting to a clean-shaven look for the rest of the His life.

In some ways, it’s a shame that Indy ditched his beard. Beards are interesting because they can indicate age while hiding many signs of aging. For example, old, beardless Indy may appear young at first glance, but the more you see him, the more you notice the aging in his exposed mouth and neck. Indy with a beard may seem like the film is embracing this new phase of his life, while subtly concealing the true signs of his age. Indy appeared without a beard as the film desperately tried to return to the youthful sensibilities of the original trilogy, only to end up drawing more attention to his age by accident.

Longtime fans have spoken wistfully about that glimpse they got of the bearded Indy. “I wish he had that in the new movie,” one fan said He lamented On the “Indiana Jones” subreddit. Another fan on the same topic books“I wish they had based this look on the Crystal Skull and the new look. Indy should look like an American Gandalf as he grows older.” But if they want to see Ford look like an American Gandalf, the closest thing they’ll get will be his role in it 2020 movie “Call of the Wild”.

during Press tour In this film, Ford gives some insight into why so many of his characters are clean-shaven, meaning his wife doesn’t like him with a beard. “(The beard) took about three and a half months,” he explained of his character in Call of the Wild. “Then I shaved it off. Then we did some reshoots. So I had to grow it back. My wife (Calista Flockhart) will never forgive me for that.”